One Step At A Time
by Trebles.and.Tones
Summary: The events surrounding Rachel's birth did not go as planned. Now 14 1/2 years later, some ghosts from their past come back to haunt them & Rachel is driven away from her mother because of a strong urge to grow up. With many bumps along the way, the two will eventually try to reconnect, but not before Rachel does everything in her power to drive her family & friends away from her.
1. Prologue: You'll Always Be My Baby

**Prologue: You'll Always Be My Baby**

"_In the sunlight or the rain, brightest nights or darkest days  
I'll always feel the same way,  
Whatever road you may be on  
Know you're never too far gone, my love is there wherever you may be…  
Just remember that you will always be…my baby." –Sara Evans, You'll Always Be My Baby_

She laid back in the hospital bed and prayed for the moment she could leave as tears coursed down her sullen cheeks. The labor of her child had been difficult, and she now had sixteen stitches courtesy of her little bundle of joy.

Only the papers sitting in front of her, waiting only for her signature, were testament of the truth: her bundle of joy, a child she loved dearly and had since the day she had heard that strong heartbeat, was being given to a gay, male couple who were, for obvious reasons, unable to have their own children.

Yes. Shelby Corcoran was merely a vessel. But the further into her pregnancy she had gotten, the more she had fallen in love with the tiny, unborn being in her womb. The breaking point, though, had been when she had heard her baby, her little girl, cry right after she had been born. There had been no epidural for Shelby, as the contractions had hit her suddenly and violently in the middle of the grocery store and by the time she had arrived at the hospital she had been ready to push.

But even through the ghastly pain of pushing a seven pound baby girl into the world un-medicated, the cries of the infant had sent chills of love and heartache down her spine. Those were cries of need. Need for a mother. A mother who the little girl would never have. Shelby had looked at the unnamed Baby Corcoran through tears as the nurse held her up. In that instant, the baby had stopped her screams, her halo of brown hair that matched Shelby's perfectly sticking up everywhere, and simply stared into Shelby's tear-filled eyes. Shelby held her tiny hand, and then she was gone.

Gone forever. Or at least until she was eighteen. But at that very moment, Shelby felt that it was forever. She had to love her baby from afar. It was breaking her. How could she give her baby away? That baby was part of her. This was supposed to be easy. Shelby had seriously thought, in her young, twenty year old mind, that the morning sickness was going to be the worst part. Why had she thought that? _Why_?

While the doctor was stitching her up, Shelby cried. She sobbed for everything. Her emotions, her baby, her pain. No one in the room with her was able to console her. She didn't want to be consoled.

That was the exact moment her big sister walked into the room. Leah Corcoran Alexander had tried to make it for the birth of the baby, but hadn't been able to get there on time. After yelling at three nurses, she had finally made it to her sister. She hadn't cared that her sister was being cleaned up. She hadn't cared that her baby sister was being stitched up. She hadn't cared that her baby sister was being looked after by doctors and nurses. She merely wanted to be with her, to hold her. Because, while her sister had thought that giving her baby up would be easy, at the age of twenty-six, Leah Corcoran Alexander had known differently. She knew that she could be what no one else could for her sister, she had known that it would be necessary. She would be a rock for her sister in her time of need. Always if need be.

Leah hugged her sister to her and let her cry while she was being taken care of, and then had let her sister cry some more when she was taken to a private room.

Now, Shelby was alone, though only for a few moments. Her sister had gone to get them something to eat and, Shelby suspected, gone to peak into the nursery to get a look at the niece she would never hold and never see again. Shelby picked up the pen she had had Leah dig out of her purse before she left. It was her favorite pen, and she had kept up with it for three years. It had been a gift from her sister. A just because gift for her little sister who was close to graduating high school and was at the top of her dance team and Glee club. The body of the pen was purple, Shelby's favorite color, and the ink flowed out of the pen as if by magic.

Shelby knew that after she signed her name to the papers in front of her, she would never use the pen again. She would keep it, but it would be placed somewhere safe. Somewhere hidden.

Shelby pulled the table over her bed closer to her and stared at the papers. She knew what they said. She knew every single word. She had to sign these before her baby could be taken from the hospital. She placed the pen to the top paper and held it there, tears blurring her vision.

She heard the door open, but didn't dare look up. She was not sure if she could truly face her sister at the moment without completely breaking down. She wasn't sure if she would be able to sign the papers if she met her sister's all knowing eyes.

"Shelby… Don't sign it." A voice said from the doorway.

But it wasn't Leah. The voice was male and deep. It was a voice that Shelby knew. Shelby finally looked up and noticed Leroy Berry.

Tears were falling down his cheeks.

Shelby completely froze. She noticed that Leah had came in right behind him and was standing, listening to whatever this man was going to say to her little sister. She was standing protectively by the door, ready to jump in and protect her sister if she needed too. She would. Her sister was already broken and did not need any added hurt.

"It is Hiram. He…he was in an accident. He…I am not sure what happened. He didn't make it, Shelby. I knew that I had to come here. I had to come here and not let you sign those papers. We both know that the baby was yours and Hiram's. We knew it the moment we saw her. She is yours now. I don't want her. I can't…not without Hiram." The man sobbed. He turned and ran out of the room.

Shelby felt her breathing pick up. Was it a lie? Was it the truth? Was the baby hers? Was this some sick joke to punish her already breaking heart even more?

"Leah?" Shelby whispered through her sobs.

"He was telling the truth, Shel. I heard about the accident while I was out, though I didn't know that it was Hiram Berry. Calm down, Shel," was Leah's whispered reply.

Leah walked over to Shelby and looked down at her. She lifted her hand up and gently took the pen from her left hand, where it was still grasped tightly and held down to the paper on the table in front of her.

"You get to keep her, Shel. You get to keep her and not feel guilty about it." Leah whispered into her baby sister's ear and held her head with her right hand against her chest.

Shelby broke down again.

But this time, the sobs were different.

A terrible thing had happened to Hiram Berry.

But she had her baby. She had her baby and she didn't have to share, or give her up. As selfish as it was, Shelby didn't care. She was going to keep her baby and she was happy. She was happier than she had ever been. She didn't even know that it was possible to be this happy.

"Rachel Barbra Corcoran." Shelby whispered.

Leah smiled against the top of Shelby's tangled head of dark brown hair and brought her hand up to gently run her fingers through it to hopefully untangle some of the mess.

"That is perfect."

Leah leaned down further and kissed the top of her baby sister's head.

Everything was going to be the way it was supposed to.

Everything happens for a reason, Shelby thought to herself as she was hugged by her big sister.

Everything was going to change now.

But Shelby knew one thing was for certain. She would simply take everything in stride...

…One step at a time…

* * *

**AN: Hey all. Thanks for reading:) Let me know what you think. I have quite a bit of this fic already written, and there is an expansive summary on my profile page. Also, if my Avatar is showing up, that is the banner for this fic. **

**While this is not a Song Fic, (which are not allowed on here anyways) I will try to use a verse from a song at the beginning of each chapter that will work with that particular chapter. Whatever I do use, I will give the song title and the singer unless I make something up. **


	2. Fourteen and a Half Years Later

**Chapter One: Fourteen and a half years later**

"_She was starin' out the window of their SUV_

_Complainin', sayin', "I can't wait to turn eighteen"_

_She said, "I'll make my own money and I'll make my own rules_

_Momma, put the car in park out there in front of the school"_

_And she kissed her head, and said, "I was just like you"_

_You're gonna miss this…" –Trace Adkins, You're Gonna Miss This__  
_

Rachel had had a horrible first week of school. It had been bad enough that she had seriously thought about skipping the rest of the week. Had her mom not worked at the stupid school, she would have. To top it all off, life at home hadn't been all that great either because her mom was continuously on her case about one thing or another. Usually they got along really well, but recently they seemed to be fighting all the time. Which usually left Rachel stuck in her room until her 'attitude' changed.

Now, Rachel was staring at her mother defiantly. It was utterly ridiculous that she was in trouble for something as menial and stupid as being ten minutes late to class. Ten minutes! It hadn't been like she was skipping class completely. She had merely been meeting up with Finn, her boyfriend who was in the eleventh grade. It was only the first week of school, her ninth grade year, and already she was getting into trouble in school, by her mother no less. Top all that off with the stupid slushy that had been thrown in her face that morning by some random Cheerio who was mad that she was dating Finn…well, her day hadn't been the best. She had barely been able to hide the slushy attack from her mother, and she was not in the mood to listen to any rant from the woman now.

That was what happened when one's mother taught at the same school one attended. Of course, perhaps Rachel could have been late to a class other than the one her mother taught, but that really was beside the point. She had to take the moments when she could.

"I got lost again." Rachel said, her hands sitting delicately on her hips and one of her eyebrows raised up perfectly, mimicking her mother's own stance beautifully. Shelby shook her head as she stared down at the mini replica of herself. Always the drama queen, her little girl was.

"It is Friday, young lady. You have been in this class on time all week. Not to mention that you have been in my classroom several times over the last three years that I have worked here."

"Mo—Ms. Corcoran, I apologize. I will attempt to be in class on time from now on. Now, may I please go to Glee? The new Spanish teacher is attempting to start the club up, and I would really like to join since your schedule is 'much' too busy to run the club." Rachel said sarcastically. Her mother had won four consecutive national titles when she had worked at Carmel High when Rachel was younger, but had refused to run a Glee club here due to the fact that it had taken too much time away from her children.

Shelby eyed her daughter. She was a sneaky one, and Shelby wasn't sure whether Rachel or her adopted five year old sister, Beth, was sneakier.

When Rachel had been nearly nine, one of her classmates' older sisters, Frannie Fabray, had gotten pregnant. The girl had only been sixteen going on seventeen, and was planning on giving the baby up for adoption. Shelby had discovered not long after Rachel was born that she would not be able to have any more children. Rachel had been a gift, as not even two years later, Shelby had developed horrible cramps, only to soon find out that her ovaries both had tumors and needed to be removed.

So when Frannie Fabray had had her baby, Shelby had adopted the little girl. Now five and a half years later, Shelby Corcoran's life was full of surprises.

"Yes, go. But you need to meet me out front at fifteen until five. I have to go pick up Beth from After School Play now, but she will be hungry by the time that you get out of Glee and so will you, so we will go grab something before we go home since it is Friday. Understood?"

Rachel was quiet for several moments. She was trying to decide whether to be affronted that her mother thought she knew her well enough to know that she would be hungry when she was finished with Glee, but decided that it was probably wise on her part if she kept her mouth shut at the moment.

"Okay. I will meet you out front at fifteen til. See you then." Rachel said, and then practically ran out of her mother's English classroom.

Shelby just shook her head. She wasn't quite sure if she was ready for this year, the year her babies would start kindergarten and high school. She did know one thing, however, and that was that she knew it was going to be an interesting year. Something in her gut told her that much, but she was not yet sure if it would be a good or bad thing. She slowly gathered her things from her desk and organized it so that she would be able to find everything on Monday.

Rachel ran to the choir room and noticed that it was still empty. She knew pretty much everyone who would be in there, but was mainly concerned about one person: Finn.

Her mother didn't know that she and Finn were the least bit serious and had been since summer vacation when Finn and his stepbrother Kurt, who was also one of Rachel's best friends, and their parents had stayed two cabins down from them at the lake for two weeks, and Rachel planned on keeping it that way. She wouldn't turn fifteen until December and by then Finn would be seventeen. He was in the eleventh grade and she was in the ninth. Plus, there was the horrible fact that Rachel was not allowed to go out on a date until she was sixteen. Definitely her mother's idea there. Rachel didn't even understand that rule. It was stupid.

"Psst…" Rachel heard from the corner, so she quickly turned around, a wide smile spreading over her face as she spotted Finn and ran over to the quarterback.

Neither said anything, just began a heavy make out session while they could.

"Oh, what do we have here?" a sing song voice came from behind them.

Rachel sighed. She knew that voice.

Quinn.

Rachel finished her kiss and turned around to face the girl behind her.

"Hi, Quinnie." Rachel said, one eyebrow raised higher than the other. Usually Quinn left her alone when she and Finn were together just like Rachel left Quinn alone when she and her boyfriend, Puck, were together.

"I thought that I would let you know that I saw Aunt Shel walking down this way. You don't want to take the chance that she stops by here to make sure that little Rachie is behaving like a good girl and is where she belongs."

Rachel sighed. She and Quinn had been raised virtually as cousins since the adoption of Rachel's little sister, Beth. Beth's adoption had been an open adoption, and the two families had grown close throughout the process. Rachel and Quinn were close, and both girls were close to the other's mother. Russell Fabray, Quinn's father, was the only father figure that Rachel and Beth had in their lives beside their Aunt Leah's husband James. Beth's biological mother, Quinn's big sister, Frannie, had actually not been in any of their lives for about five years. She had moved west and never returned when Beth had been about six months old. She called once a year on Christmas, and would only talk to her mother, Judy.

"She is supposed to be getting Beth and then she is coming back here. You want to come and eat supper with us tonight? She is taking us out since it is Friday. That might also stop her from lecturing me about being late to her stupid class today." Rachel said.

Quinn and Rachel looked at one another and at the same time said, "Nahh!"

Both girls busted out laughing. They both knew that it didn't matter who was around, Shelby Corcoran would lecture if she felt it was necessary, though neither realized just how much Shelby hated having to get onto her children in public.

Slowly people began walking into the choir classroom and sitting down, so Rachel had to step away from Finn. Rachel looked around and noticed the kids coming in: Puck, Artie, Brittney and by extension Santana, Mercedes, Sam, and Tina. She knew that her other best friend, Kurt, would be in soon.

It would be interesting to see how Glee Club was going to go. That much was for sure.

By five, Shelby had a carload of kids. Somehow she had ended up with not only her own two children, but with Quinn, who she had expected anyways, and then Puck, Finn, Santana, and Brittney. She silently wondered if this was going to be a normal thing after Glee practice. It wasn't that she minded, but she did like to use the car as a way to talk to Rachel because, for some weird reason, Rachel seemed to open up more in a moving vehicle. After the week they had had, Shelby had been hoping that she would be able to get the girl to open up a bit. She knew that Rachel loved eating a Breadstix and had thought that that might also help.

"And then Mrs. Almon told me that I was really good this week and she let me be the line leader at lunch, and then I got to get a prize out of the goodie box. Almost everyone did cause everyone was really good this week except for Frankie Peterson who went around pinching everyone today cause he was mad cause he wanted to stay home with his mommy and she made him come to school. Mommy, would I have been in trouble if I had done that cause you wouldn't let me stay home from school? But I like school so I don't think I would do that." Beth said, jabbering about her day from her booster seat in the backseat on the passenger side. Rachel was sitting beside her and rolled her eyes. Her sister could talk nonstop about nothing. Rachel really didn't understand it. She was positive that she didn't do that, though Shelby would say otherwise.

"Yes, Beth, had you acted out like that in school you would have been in trouble. I am glad that you like school though, baby." Shelby said glancing at her oldest daughter as she did so.

Again, Rachel rolled her eyes. She was positive that her mother was making a point at the moment. It really was unnecessary. Her mother didn't know her as well as she thought and wouldn't be able to comprehend half of the things that had gone on that week even if Rachel did decide to eventually tell her.

So, Rachel knew that her mom didn't understand and she definitely knew that her mother couldn't identify with her. She was pretty sure that her mother had never had a slushy to the face. The kids at the school wouldn't even slushy anyone in front of Shelby Corcoran because she was one of the only teachers they were all afraid of. The only one that even came close was Sue Sylvester. Somehow they had decided that it would be okay to slushy the woman's daughter though. Rachel had decided that it was best to keep it all a secret and maybe it would stop.

Shelby saw her eldest daughter roll her eyes in the rearview mirror. It was one thing that definitely grated on her nerves more than almost anything else her children could do. But with so many others in her vehicle, she was not going to say anything. Had it just been Quinn, Shelby wouldn't have thought twice about it, but she really did not like discussing misbehavior in front of children who were not part of her family.

Thankfully, though, she was pulling up to Santana's home, where both Santana and Brittney were getting out, and then two blocks over, Finn and Puck would get out because they lived three houses apart. Shelby silently wondered where Kurt was. Usually it was Kurt in her vehicle or in her home because he and Rachel had been friends since before they had started school. Shelby had known the young boy for a long time and had watched the trials of his life just as she had Rachel's and eventually Quinn's. Kurt often came to Shelby when he felt that he couldn't talk to his father because she had been there for him during so many things: the loss of his mother, telling people that he was, in fact, gay, the marriage of his father to Finn's mother, just to name a few.

Shelby made a mental note to talk to the boy soon, as she hadn't had a chance all week.

Fifteen minutes later, the only ones in the vehicle were her daughters and Quinn, who was sitting in the front seat.

"Quinn, do you want to go home, or do you want to go and eat with us? We are going to go to Breadstix. I told Judy last night that I was going to ask you."

Quinn looked at Shelby and raised both of her eye brows up.

"Daddy is cooking tonight."

Shelby laughed. That meant that Quinn was definitely going with them because that man could not cook to save his life. Every other Friday or so, Judy and he would cook together, but it usually resulted in a trip out to eat or ordering take out. Shelby had learned the hard way to try and avoid the man's cooking if at all possible.

"Okay, call your parents and let them know that you are going to eat with us, and ask if they want to go. If they don't, tell them that I will have you home by seven." Shelby said, noticing that it was already past five thirty.

Quinn nodded and grabbed her phone from her purse and called her parents.

While she was doing that, Shelby looked in the rearview mirror and noticed that Rachel had moved over to the seat directly behind her and didn't have her seat belt on. The earbuds to her iPod were in her ears and she was staring out the window. Shelby reached her arm behind her seat and tapped on Rachel's leg to get her attention. Taking the earbuds out of her ears, she looked up at her mother with just a tad bit of irritation.

"Rach, put your seat belt on." Shelby said. She did not understand why she always had to have this conversation with her oldest daughter. If she thought she was ever going to ride by herself in a vehicle, she was definitely going to have to show responsibility while riding with others first. Beth was the complete opposite and would freak out if she didn't have her seat belt on when the car was turned on. Of course, Beth was only five, six in late January.

"I don't need it. We will be there in like five minutes." Rachel said, staring out the window again.

"Rachel, put your seat belt on. _Now_." Shelby said, using a tone that usually spoke volumes to the petulant girl in the back seat.

"I don't need it!" Rachel snapped and crossed her arms over her chest.

Shelby slowed the car down and pulled over to the side of the road. Normally, she would have merely turned around and warned her daughter once more; however, she simply undid her own seat belt and climbed out of the car. Rachel's eyes widened because she had no idea what her mother was doing.

Shelby jerked the door behind her open and stared at her daughter, who suddenly began reaching for her seatbelt frantically. Shelby grabbed her hand and smacked it, once, hard, and stared at Rachel with eyes that seemed to pierce into the fourteen year old's soul. After she did that, Shelby grabbed the seatbelt and buckled her up, daring her to say anything. Shelby then turned towards the open door and turned on the child lock so that Rachel would not be able to open the door until Shelby opened it for her.

"You take that seat belt off, you will regret it. Do. You. Understand?" Each of the last three words was punctuated with a light smack to Rachel's leg because Rachel was looking off and trying not to pay any attention to her mother and the actions she was performing. Rachel quickly nodded trying to force the tears welling up in her eyes away. This is why she knew that her mother would absolutely not understand anything that she did or anything that was going on at school.

"Good, because you and I already have some things to talk about when we get home tonight. I do not think that you want to add anything to that list. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Rachel sniffled. She was willing the tears in her eyes to disappear. She hated that her mom had that kind of power over her.

Shelby shut the door and took a deep breath. Something was up with her little princess, and she was determined to find out why.

"Oh…mommy got you, Rachie." Beth semi-whispered, her eyes wide because usually Rachel never really got in trouble in front of her, or was sent to her room to await their mother.

Rachel looked over at her sister and stared at her.

"Shut up." Rachel muttered.

"You are not supposed to say that." Beth said with knowing eyes.

"So what? If you'd shut up, I wouldn't have to say it. Now leave me alone!"

At that moment, Shelby was climbing back into the car and snapping her seatbelt back into place.

"Aunt Shel, Mom said that she didn't care if I went with you and that you already knew that, but she and daddy are gonna stay in. Daddy has already started cooking something. I am sure that he making something great." Quinn said, making an awkward face at the mere thought.

"Okay, Quinn." Shelby said, laughing at the face.

"Mommy, Rachie told me to shut up!"

"Only because she won't leave me alone!" Rachel rushed to say. She glared at Beth who stuck her tongue at her.

Rachel raised her hand to hit her sister so that she would leave her alone, only to have Shelby reach around quickly and grab it. Rachel wasn't quite sure how she had reached that far around with her seatbelt still on.

"Rachel, don't. Elizabeth, stop messing with Rachel before you get into trouble."

"Mom…"

"Rachel, stop. She is five."

Rachel jerked her hand away from her mom and slammed herself back into her seat and brought her knees up to her chest and crossed her arms over them.

"You always take her side."

"Cause I am the princess!" Beth said, laughing at Rachel.

"You're something alright! You're a brat!"

"No I'm not!"

"Just shut the hell up!" Rachel finally spouted off. Beth's eyes grew and Quinn's mouth dropped open. Shelby, who had just started to drive off, hit the brakes and turned around to glare fire at her child.

"That is enough out of you, young lady. I do not want to hear one word from your mouth until we sit down to order our food. Do you understand me, little girl?"

Rachel nodded, though her eyes were blinded by tears. She was going to really be in trouble now. Gah, her day was really sucking. Her whole week was sucking. In fact, in that moment, she was positive things could not get much worse.

"Answer me, Rachel."

Rachel looked at her mother like she had gone crazy, but didn't say anything.

"One…"

Shit. Her mom was counting. Nothing good ever came from her mother counting. She remembered ignoring the counting once when she was eleven. She was sure that there had been other times that she had, but she remembered that particular time clearly because Rachel had refused to come stand in front of Shelby when she counted. She had gotten to five, which was as high as she would go, and Rachel had been in a lot of trouble.

"What do you want from me? You told me not to say anything else! Then I don't and I am still in trouble! This is so stupid! I can't wait until I turn eighteen and don't have to listen to you anymore!" Rachel buried her head in her arms. Shelby sighed. She actually had to give Rachel that. She should have just let it be, but she had let Rachel's previous attitude get to her. Rachel had had an attitude for the last week, and that really was not like her daughter. Usually the child was very well behaved. Of course there were the normal spats with her little sister, and the occasional fight with her mom, but normally after Shelby chastised her and she pouted for a while, she was ready to talk to her mom and apologize or just cling to her for a bit.

Shelby didn't say anything else. In fact, the entire ride to the restaurant was quiet. Quinn got out of the car the minute it was turned off and opened the back door and helped Beth climb out of her seat and then held the little girl's hand as they walked up the sidewalk. Shelby opened up Rachel's door and watched as she unbuckled her seatbelt and tried to wipe the tears that had trailed down her cheeks. Shelby put her hand on Rachel's leg to make her stay and then dug into her purse for the ever existent baby wipes that she always made sure to carry with her because one child or the other were always getting into something. Surprisingly enough, it was usually Rachel, not Beth, who she had to use them on. She took one out and then gently wiped Rachel's face.

"Baby, please tell me what is bothering you. This is really not like you. You have been out of sorts for over a week." Shelby whispered.

Rachel stiffened, but let her mom continue to wipe her face free of tears.

"Why won't you talk to me, Rachel?"

Rachel sniffed and looked towards the ground.

"You always take Beth's side. One day I am going to be eighteen and then it won't matter any more!" Rachel mumbled and then climbed around her mother and out of the car. If she had to suffer through this meal with her mother and sister, she wanted to get it over with.

"Rachel, one day you are going to miss all of this." Shelby said quietly.

Rachel scoffed.

"Don't count on it!" the girl said, and then walked quickly over to where Quinn and Beth were standing, leaving her mother beside the car.

* * *

**AN: This is not where I originally ended this chapter, but the chapter was like 9,000 words long and I was afraid that some might think that is too long. This chapter explains a lot of the background and Rachel's views on some things, mainly her mother. There will be a lot of angst in this story. If there is anything anyone wants to see, let me know and I will see what I can do, though know that I will not change my plotline, as it is already worked out. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter as well. Chapters will not always come out this quickly, but I want to see what people think so that I can perfect later chapters. Let me know what you think:)**


	3. The Unexpected

"_Why can't we talk it over  
Oh it seems to me  
That sorry seems to be the hardest word…"—Elton John, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word_

Rachel walked up to where Quinn was standing and stood beside her, ignoring her little sister who was holding onto Quinn's hand. Shelby came up and took Beth's hand, so Rachel and Quinn walked ahead into the restaurant and got a table in one of the corners. They sat on the same side, Rachel inside the booth and Quinn on the outside. Shelby and Beth came up and sat down with them, Beth directly in front of Rachel.

A waitress came up and asked for drink orders, two cokes, one water, and one sweet tea. Normally, Shelby didn't let Rachel have soda after school because she drank one from the vending machines during school hours. Somehow, though, Shelby knew that it would literally push Rachel over the edge if she said anything. She'd let it pass for now, even if Rachel knew the rules. Shelby had never been more thankful for a Friday in her life.

Rachel held her menu up in front of her face and looked over at Quinn, who lifted hers up as well.

"Are we going to do anything tonight or tomorrow night?" Rachel whispered. Quinn knew that she meant the four of them…Rachel, Quinn, Puck, and Finn.

Quinn nodded.

"Yea. I'll text you though…so…you know…" Quinn pointed her eyes toward Shelby.

"You know that she is probably going to take my phone away from me." Rachel whispered,

"I'll let you know somehow. Okay? In fact, I will text Puck now and ask him now so that we can figure it out."

Rachel nodded and laid her menu down. Shelby was glaring at the girl, not because she had heard anything that was said between the two teens, but because they were being so secretive and nothing good ever came from that.

"Do you girls know what you want?" Shelby asked as the waitress came up to their table.

Quinn nodded and begin telling the waitress what she wanted, a hamburger with everything on the side so that she could build it herself and fries, and then Rachel looked over at her mother and then the waitress. Shelby knew at that instant that Rachel was fixing to be difficult.

"I would like a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, just done, barely brown, with French fries and a side salad. But I would like my salad and fries on the side, not touch…"

"Excuse her, you can put all of her food on the same plate, and she will eat it. I would like a cheeseburger and fries, and a kid's grilled chicken with a macaroni and cheese side."

Shelby took all of the menus and handed them back to the waitress and smiled at her. As soon as the waitress left, Shelby turned to glare at Rachel.

"Do you _want_ to take a trip to the bathroom?" Shelby whispered across the table.

"You wouldn't!" Rachel hissed back.

Shelby raised her eyebrows at her child and stared at her for a moment. She didn't want a situation similar to what had happened in the car, so she had to think before she said anything.

"I do not think that you want to try me on that one, young lady. You know very well what that visit would entail and just because it has been a couple of years since I have had to take you in there for misbehaving in public, do not think that I will not march your behind right back in there and take care of your attitude just because you are fourteen."

"Fine." Rachel said, and sat back in the booth. Quinn hit her leg and stared at her as if to say 'what are you doing?' and then sat back as well.

Quinn was used to it, and had actually been marched into the bathroom by Shelby once herself. It had not ended well, and then she had gotten in trouble by her mom when she got home. Rachel just stared at her mom. She didn't say anything else because she knew that she was already in trouble with the woman and she was going to be in more trouble before the weekend was out if she got caught sneaking out later that night or the next, depending on when everyone wanted to go out.

Beth looked up from where she had been playing with Shelby's phone, which the woman had given her to distract her while they waited on their food to arrive, and stared at her big sister. Was she nuts? Even Beth, at five, knew when to stop getting into trouble. Mommy was threatening to take Rachel to the bathroom for goodness sake! Nothing good ever come from that, and Beth knew it well.

"Rachie, you better stop, cause you don't want Mommy to take you to the bathroom cause she ain't taking you in there to go to the bathroom, she is gonna spank you!" the little girl warned.

While Beth had thought that she was helping her sister out by informing her of what would happen if their mom took her to the bathroom, it didn't do anything but anger Rachel.

"Shut up and mind your own damn business, you little brat!" Rachel hissed. Had she been on the same side of the table as Beth, Rachel would have hit her sister. She didn't understand why the five year old was so obnoxious sometimes.

"I was just saying!" Beth said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"I don't need your help! You have helped plenty, and I don't need it!" Rachel hissed and then, in complete accident, pushed herself up in her seat and kicked Beth's foot as she did so.

"Ow!" Beth said, and burst into tears. Shelby, who had been about to diffuse the situation that was unfolding in front of her quicker than she had realized was even possible, literally had to keep herself from yelling at her eldest child. She bent over to Beth and gave her hug, telling her that she would be okay.

Shelby then looked over to Quinn.

"Quinn, watch Beth, please."

Quinn nodded, and then quickly stood up when she realized that Shelby was fixing to literally snatch Rachel out of her seat.

Rachel had yet to fully realize what was going on. She was too angry in general. At her Mom, at her sister, at herself.

She felt her arm being grabbed and then her body being pulled up out of her seat. She didn't fight it because she knew what was happening, and she wasn't so sure that her Mom wouldn't just spank her in the middle of the restaurant if the woman felt it was necessary. Rachel thanked the heavens that they were in the back corner of the restaurant and there was literally no one there yet, as the night crowd usually didn't come in until around seven.

"Mom, I'm sorry…please don't." Rachel whispered as she was pulled into the bathroom and the door was locked behind her.

"I do not want to hear it, Rachel. I am tired of your attitude. I am tired of the way you are treating your sister. I am tired of your mouth, and the fact that you think it is okay to hit and kick your little sister..."

"Mama, please, I am sorry. Please…" Rachel cried, huge tears falling down her cheeks.

"I don't think that you are, Rachel Barbra Corcoran. I do not think that you are truly sorry at all. I think that you are sorry because you are in trouble."

"Please don't do this here. _Please, Mama_." Rachel begged. Shelby looked at her and sighed inwardly and looked up at the ceiling in the dingy bathroom they were now in. Contrary to what her daughters, and possibly Quinn, thought, she hated having to punish them at all. Many times after they had been in huge trouble and Shelby had had to discipline them, she would spend thirty or so minutes in the shower, crying, that night after they were put to bed. It was hard to punish her daughters even when they needed to be punished. It was the worst part of being a mother.

"I will make you a deal, though do realize that we will be discussing this regardless of anything else when we get home. If you can go out there and behave like the fourteen year old you are for the rest of dinner, I will wait until we are home to have this discussion. I have already planned on tonight being a long night discussing things that have been going on with you lately, so we will simply add to it. But make no mistake, Rachel, if you go out there and utter one rude syllable, make one sarcastic remark, or roll your eyes, I will bring you back in here and do what needs to be done. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Rachel said quickly, rubbing the tears from her cheeks.

"Do you need a moment?" Shelby asked gently. She knew Rachel well, and she knew that she would need a few minutes to compose herself after what had just happened.

Rachel nodded and then looked up at Shelby, "Will you wait for me though?"

"Of course. I will wait outside. When you come out of this door, I expect a completely different Rachel than the one I had to drag in here. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am." Rachel whispered.

Shelby walked out of the bathroom and stood close by the door. She knew that Rachel wouldn't lock the door since she was waiting, and she didn't want anyone to walk in on her.

Shelby leaned against the wall and sighed. She was going to finish whatever it was that was going on with Rachel tonight. Her daughter was not going to act like she was and get away with it. She definitely wasn't going to continue with her behavior.

"Mama!" Shelby stood up straight. Rachel sounded off, so Shelby looked to make sure that no one was around and then opened the bathroom door and walked in, locking it behind her.

Rachel was in tears in the bathroom.

"Baby, what is wrong?" Shelby asked, definitely concerned that Rachel was so upset with no apparent reason why.

"I got it, Mama…" and then she burst into loud sobs.

Thankfully, for Rachel who was feeling more awkward than she had felt in a long time, Shelby knew exactly what the child was talking about. Shelby sighed and looked at her daughter. Rachel was a late bloomer, just as Shelby had been.

"Baby, don't cry. We have talked about this, you knew that it was coming eventually." Shelby said softly, grabbing several paper towels and wetting them so that she could wipe Rachel's face again.

"I know." Rachel sobbed and leaned into her mother. Shelby wrapped her arms around Rachel. She wasn't quite sure what else could go wrong today, but she hoped this was the last surprise of the day for everyone's sanity.

"Sweetie, I have to go get my purse."

"No, Mama…" Rachel said, grabbing a hold of her mother's shirt. She might be mad at her mother in the grand scheme of things, but hell if she didn't want her mother at that moment.

"Sweetheart, listen to me, I have to go get my purse so that I can get the things you need before leaving the bathroom, okay?" Shelby asked. She had been carrying things around for this day for a while because she had known that Rachel would start her period soon and the possibility that she would not be prepared was very real. As usual, Shelby was right about her daughter.

"You'll come right back?" Rachel asked tearfully.

"Yes, baby, I will be right back."

Rachel nodded and then watched as Shelby walked out of the bathroom.

Shelby walked quickly to the table where there food had arrived and Quinn was sitting in the seat that Shelby had vacated beside Beth and was cutting up the little girl's chicken.

"Quinn, can you hand me my purse?"

Quinn looked up and then reached around Beth to grab Shelby's purse and then handed it to her with a questioning look.

"Thank you, Quinnie. Rachel and I will be back in a moment. Thank you for fixing Beth's food."

Quinn nodded at the older woman, but didn't say anything else.

Shelby walked back to the bathroom and knocked to let Rachel know that it was her. She opened the door and walked in. Rachel was still crying, but she had calmed down a little.

Shelby opened her purse and dug through it, then soon handed Rachel the necessary item.

Rachel just stared at it. It wasn't that she didn't know what to do with the _Always_ product in her hand, it was that she didn't feel ready and that confused her. Quinn had started when they were twelve. Santana had started before then. All of her friends had started before she had, at least more than a year before, so why was she so upset about it? And, just after she had yelled at her mother about not being able to wait until the day she turned eighteen and no longer had to listen to the woman.

"Baby, I know that you are upset, and we can add that to the things that we are going to talk about tonight, but you can't make it go away."

Rachel sniffed and nodded.

"I am going to step outside the door and I will wait on you, okay?"

"Okay, Mama." Rachel whimpered.

Shelby's heart went out to her daughter. They had had a horrible week of ups and downs, that day being the worst, and this just topped the cake. Shelby still had to discipline Rachel for her behavior, but she also had to console her for her confusion and from being upset. It was going to be a fine line to walk, and Shelby wasn't sure exactly how to handle it at the moment. She did know that she needed time to handle Rachel alone.

Amongst everything though, Shelby found it slightly amusing that earlier her daughter had shouted at her about turning eighteen and how she couldn't wait, yet here she was crying because she had gotten her period, an integral part of growing up for a young girl. She knew that her daughter's emotions were all over the place at the moment and she wasn't sure if even Rachel understood what she was truly feeling.

While she waited, she phoned Judy and listened while the phone rang twice before her friend picked up on the other line.

"_Hello, Shelby."_ Judy answered the phone brightly, as she always did. The woman was one of the happiest people that Shelby knew most of the time.

"Hey, Judy. I need a favor."

"_Of course, what is it?" _

"Rachel and I need to have a long discussion tonight about everything that has been going on, and I need as few distractions as possible. As you know, it hasn't been the best of weeks between Rachel and me, and today it escalated. I really need to get to the bottom of all of this tonight. Do you think that Beth could spend the night with you guys?"

"_Shelby, you know that you do not even have to ask. Both of your children are always welcome here. Of course she can stay. We have nothing planned this weekend, so she can stay as long as you need."_

"Thank you so much, Judy. I will tell you more when I bring Quinn home. Does Beth have enough clothes at your house for tonight and tomorrow?" Shelby asked as she watched the bathroom door open.

"_Yes, she does. And I will talk to you in a bit."_

"Okay. I will talk to you in a bit. Bye, Judy."

"_Bye."_

Shelby hung up the phone and looked at Rachel as she walked over to her mother and then simply leaned against her.

"Can we go home?" Rachel asked, the questioned muffled by Shelby's shoulder.

"Let's go eat and then take Quinn home. Beth is going to stay with the Fabray's tonight so we can sort through all of this, okay?"

Rachel merely nodded.

It really was going to be a long night and, for the first time, Rachel was actually wishing that she hadn't said or done some of the things she had.

* * *

Rachel sat in the front seat of her mother's SUV as she waited for her to come out of the Fabray house. She was telling Beth bye, and that she needed to be a good girl while she spent the night with Quinn. Beth felt like one of the big kids when her Mommy said that she was going to spend the night with Quinn, so she promised to be on her best behavior for Aunt Judy and Uncle Russ.

Shelby smiled as she walked back to her car, passing Quinn as she did and giving the girl a quick hug bye then continued her way to the vehicle where Rachel sat waiting. She really was lucky to have been able to adopt Beth, but she was even luckier to have the Fabray's in her and both her girls' lives. Beth didn't understand yet that the elder Fabray's were actually her grandparents, that Quinn was her Aunt, and the picture of that girl they all said was Quinnie's sister was her biological mother. Frannie no longer had anything to do with any of them, and with her lifestyle choices, Shelby was actually glad. They had a stable family now, and Shelby was thankful because there had been some rocky times in the year after Beth had been born.

Shelby climbed into the car and looked at Rachel. She patted the girl's leg.

"I am still in big trouble, aren't I?" Rachel whispered, never picking her head off of the window.

"Like a mouse amongst snakes, Love." Shelby told her honestly. She wasn't going to lie to the girl and tell her she wasn't in trouble. Shelby had been Rachel's mother for nearly fifteen years, and she had learned early on that if she told Rachel she was in trouble, then she had to follow through because the girl quickly learned how to use her big, caramel eyes to her advantage. Shelby couldn't give her an inch when she was in trouble, else it come back to bite her in the ass later. And, besides that, Rachel had done and said many things that were highly inappropriate for any child of hers.

Rachel sighed. She wished she could just go to bed when she got home and not have to deal with the past week and especially the day she had just had. She felt that sleep might just erase some of the things that had occurred.

The ride home was quiet. Once they got there, Rachel went to the back of the SUV and got her book bag out. She placed it on her back and then walked to the front door where Shelby was unlocking the house.

"Go take a shower, and then we will talk. Are you hungry? You didn't eat any of your supper." Shelby said.

Rachel nodded, "Yea. I guess I could eat something after I get out of the shower."

Shelby nodded and then took several steps up to Rachel and wrapped her arms around the girl tightly.

"Why don't you go take a soak in my bathroom for about half an hour? Everything you need is in the cabinet under the left sink. While you are in there, I will fix you something to eat."

"Okay." Rachel said meekly. She turned and started to walk up the stairs. She loved taking a bath in her mother's sunken tub. It wasn't used often by any of them, but when Rachel did use it, it was usually when she was upset, or sore from an intense workout. It gave her time to think and she was never made to rush through a bath when she was in there.

While Rachel was taking a bath, Shelby put together a quick meal. She made a quick homemade tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. It was Rachel's favorite meal, and Shelby felt that it was probably called for tonight.

As soon as she heard her bedroom door shut and Rachel walk into her own room, she ladled out the piping hot soup into Rachel's favorite bowl and placed the grilled cheese sandwich on its matching plate and apple juice in a coffee mug that Rachel favored. She placed it on one side of the kitchen table and sat down on the other.

Rachel came down a few minutes later wearing her favorite pajamas: pink bottoms with golden stars on them and an old shirt of Shelby's that said 'I Rock the Stars'. Shelby always washed the shirt with her clothes and put it in her drawers despite the fact that Rachel had claimed it long ago. Rachel said that way it always smelled like her Mom. It always went with Rachel when she spent the night with someone because it was a comfort to have her Mom's smell surround her when she lay down at night. Shelby was actually surprised that Rachel had it on. While Rachel was upset at the moment and wanted to be close to Shelby, she had also made it quite clear that she was not happy with Shelby being on her case for the past week.

Rachel ate her food and thought about everything. She knew that she was in trouble. She just wasn't sure what her Mom was going to do to her.

"Mama?" Rachel whispered.

"Yes?"

"I…my stomach is kinda hurting." Rachel flushed a bit. This was her mother, none of this should be embarrassing, but for some reason it was, Rachel thought to herself. Mainly it was embarrassing because she had been caught so unprepared. She remembered when Quinn had gotten hers. She had been twelve and had freaked out because they had been at school. Judy had been out of town and Quinn had refused to let the nurse call her father. After talking to Judy over the phone, the nurse called Shelby over from the high school. But Rachel had always thought that she would be prepared. She was going to be fifteen in a few months! She should have been prepared!

Shelby nodded when Rachel said that she did not feel well and then stood up and went to the medicine cabinet that she had by the fridge. It was up high, and she was the only one who could reach it. Rachel still liked several inches before she could even think to reach it without a chair and Beth had years. Shelby didn't like them trying to get their own medication, and they knew that. Rachel knew that there was a bottle of aspirin and children's aspirin in Shelby's medicine cabinet in the bathroom in case Shelby was not home and Rachel was watching Beth or home alone, but anything else that the girls needed Shelby gave them. That way she knew what they were taking and when. Shelby reached into the cabinet and pulled out the aspirin bottle. She took out two and then walked back over to Rachel and handed them to her.

Slowly, Rachel finished her meal and looked at her mom expectantly. She so did not want to do this, but knew that there was no way around it, so to fight it would be pointless.

"Let's go to my room." Shelby said. Rachel stood up and walked behind Shelby and followed her into her room. This was going to be awkward on more than one level.

They sat on the bed and, more or less, got comfortable. They both knew they were in for the long haul.

"Okay, Rachel, we both know that this is going to take a while. Is there anything that you want to talk about first? Anything at all?" Shelby asked, trying to give her daughter time to speak her mind without fear of getting into any more trouble.

"Can I say that I am really sorry for the way that I have been acting so that we can just put this all behind us?" Rachel said, though she really wasn't that sorry about everything that had happened.

"I am afraid not. This week your behavior has been horrible, Rachel. Today alone, you were late to my class today and then smarted off to me. That cannot happen. The way you acted in the car was even worse, and then the restaurant. I am not sure what to do with you, Rachel."

"I don't think that it is fair that school and home cross. If you weren't my teacher…"

"I would hope that had you acted out in another teacher's classroom like you did mine today, that I would get a note home so that I could punish you accordingly. Why were you late? I know that you didn't get lost. You know that building like the back of your hand. I've worked there for several years and you have had no problems finding your way around."

Rachel looked down at her hands. She so couldn't tell her mom why she was late.

"Would it help you, Rachel, if I told you that I know the only other student who was late for a class during that period at McKinnly High was Finn Hudson?"

Rachel's eyes grew wide and she stared at her mom. Crap. Why had she not thought about that?

"Well, that answers that question. What was your deal in the car? Why did you refuse to buckle your seatbelt and then fight with your sister? You know that you have to wear a seatbelt. If I find out that you do not wear a seatbelt every single time that you get into a car, I will not let you ride with anyone other than myself. _Ever_. You also will not get your permit when you turn fifteen, and you will not get your license when you turn sixteen. This is nonnegotiable. If I find out that you have been in a vehicle and not worn one, or if I have to fight with you to get you to wear it again, I will spank you. I will not let you put your life in danger. Do you understand?" Shelby asked. She was very serious about this, and Rachel could tell that there was only one answer that Shelby would accept.

"Yes ma'am." Rachel said, trying very hard not to roll her eyes.

"Now, about how you acted in the car after that incident. The cursing. From now on, if I hear you or hear about you cursing, I will wash your mouth out with soap. Tonight, I am not going to do that, but be warned, Rachel, in the future you will have your mouth washed out with a bar of soap. Your sister looks up to you and I will not have you cursing in front of her. She will start to say the same things…"

"Is that the only reason I can't curse? Because of Beth?" Rachel sassed. Shelby looked down at her daughter with a shocked expression. Who was this child in front of her? She could tell that there was a lot that Rachel was not saying at the moment.

"No, Rachel Barbra Corcoran. Cursing makes you look stupid. It makes people think that you are unintelligent because the only things that are coming out of your mouth are vulgar obscurities, and I will not allow any child of mine to sound like that. You will not speak like a sailor." Shelby stated, eyeing her daughter carefully, but Rachel had no comments. Honestly, she realized that her mother was probably right, though she didn't want to admit it. But did she really want people to think that she was dumb?

"Now, Rachel, for your attitude in general. You have been short tempered all week. I am going to take a leap here and say that some of it can be blamed on the fact that your body was becoming accustomed to something new that was fixing to happen. But regardless of the fact that you started your period today, I know that you know how to hold your temper and how to control your attitude. This week you have done neither and that is not like you at all. You kicked your sister…"

"I didn't mean to do that! You didn't even give me time to explain! I was trying to scoot back in my seat, I swear that I didn't mean to kick Beth, Mom!" Rachel said, tears starting to glisten in the corners of her eyes.

"I might can take that, but you would have hit her in the car had I not grabbed your arm, Rachel. I cannot allow that. I won't allow her to hit you, and I will not allow you to hit her. You are sisters, and it is ridiculous that you would stoop so low as to physically harm one another."

Rachel felt a tear slide down her cheek. Really, hadn't she cried enough today? All of these tears were getting ridiculous.

"Rachel, I won't allow you to act like this, do you understand me? I will do whatever I need to in order to make sure that your misbehavior is corrected. Even if you need to go to bed with a sore behind every night."

Rachel blushed. In her entire life, her mother had always threatened her with spankings if she was acting out in a way that was unbecoming. It was a sure fire way to make Rachel clean up her act because she hated having her mother discipline her that way. She had actually only been in enough trouble to be punished that way a handful of times, and the worse spanking she had ever gotten had actually come from her Aunt Leah, not her Mom, when she had been about ten.

"I don't want that." Rachel mumbled, playing with the blanket in front of her.

"Rachel, do you think that I like disciplining you that way? Do you not think that it also hurts me to do that to my child? To my baby?"

"Beth is your baby." Rachel snapped, looking down at her pajamas and picking at some fuzz that was on one of the golden stars.

Shelby snorted and Rachel looked up at her with wide eyes.

"You are both my babies. And believe me, Rachel Barbara, you are the one that tore me and resulted in sixteen stitches and a hell of a time going to the bathroom for several weeks after you were born. You are my baby, Rachel. Beth is my baby. You will both _always_ be my babies. I know that you don't understand now, but one day you will. The day that you have a child, you will understand that that child will always be your baby. And in that moment, when you look into the eyes of a child that will always be your baby, I will be looking into the eyes of a child that has always been mine."

Rachel wrinkled her nose at hearing about her birth. She had known that her mom had had a hard time with her birth, but she never really went into specifics about that day and Rachel never asked. But what her mother said had an impact on her in that moment.

"You promise, Mama?" Rachel whispered almost so quietly that Shelby didn't hear.

Shelby looked at Rachel and smiled, "Baby, no matter what, no matter what you do in life, you will always be my baby. That I can promise you. That also gives me leeway to make sure that you are the best you can be. But even so, you will always be my baby."

This caused Rachel to really burst into tears. She finally allowed herself to lean forward into Shelby despite the fact that a mere five minutes before she had honestly wanted nothing more than to be away from the woman. Shelby wrapped her arms around her daughter's trembling frame and simply held her. Soon, Rachel worked her way around so that she was lying on her stomach, with her head and arms on Shelby's lap. Suddenly, she wanted to be comforted.

"Mama, I don't feel good." She whispered. Shelby ran her fingers through Rachel's loose hair which was still slightly damp from her bath and thought about what else they needed to talk about. She also still had to issue her punishment for Rachel's behavior, but her heart wasn't in it now that her daughter didn't feel well.

"I am sorry. Let's finish up our talk, and then we will do something about it. Okay?"

"Okay." Rachel whispered.

"Okay. I think for your behavior, everything that has happened today and in the last week warrants a grounding. Make no mistake, I was ready to spank you at the restaurant tonight. I haven't had to drag you into a bathroom in public since you were ten years old and threw a tantrum in the middle of Target, and today, at fourteen, you made me have to do that. I do not like being the bad guy, Rachel. But I will be a bad guy, and next time, though I hope there is no next time, I will follow through. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. I think that two weeks grounding, meaning no phone, no iPod, early bed time, no computer unless it is for homework, and no going out will work. You can still watch some television, though going to bed at 8:30 every night might relieve some of your attitude."

"Mom, that is Beth's bedtime." Rachel mumbled in her mother's lap. Normally, she didn't have to go to bed until ten.

"Yes it is. I think that for the next two weeks, however, that it is sufficient for you as well."

"Okay." Rachel sighed. She knew that she wasn't in the mood to argue and she knew it would result in nothing good anyways.

"I am going to go take a quick shower and put on my pajamas, why don't you go make us a big bowl of ice cream and pick out a movie and then bring it all in here. I think that you and I need a calm movie night. We can talk more if you want, in fact I think that it is a good idea, but I want the rest of the night to be calm. No talks of punishments or misbehavior unless there is something specific that you want to talk about, okay?" Shelby asked.

"Okay." Rachel actually liked that idea very much.

"I think tonight we will ignore the early bedtime, but tomorrow it is on for the next two weeks, understood? Tonight is about you and me."

"I like that."

"Good girl. Now, go get everything we need while I shower."

Rachel nodded and then got up and walked out of Shelby's room and downstairs.

Fifteen minutes later, Rachel had a huge bowl of ice cream with two spoons sitting in the bowl, several movies, her fuzzy blanket, and her stuffed duck that she had had since she was three and had gotten from Shelby for Easter. She laid everything either on the bed or the dresser and then walked into the bathroom where her mother was showering without bothering to knock. She had never knocked, and didn't even think about it because it was just her mom.

Rachel heard the shower still running, so she walked over to the sink and sat on top of it with her back against the mirror and her legs pulled up to her chest.

"Mom?" Rachel said.

Shelby smiled. She had known that she wouldn't get to shower alone in the bathroom if she took too long. Neither of her daughters had allowed that to ever happen. Shelby just simply smiled about it because there was nothing she could do. When one was a mother, it meant being available at all times, even in the middle of a shower.

"Yes, baby?"

Rachel took a deep breath. She had been thinking about what to say since she had walked downstairs.

"I…I am sorry. For the way I have been acting. I know that I haven't been easy to live with lately." Rachel mumbled.

Shelby turned the shower off and opened the shower door and stepped out to grab her towel. She wrapped it around her and then looked up at Rachel.

"Rachel, no matter what you do, I wouldn't change a moment of my life. Even when you are incorrigible and hard to live with. But, with that said, I am glad that you are truly sorry." Shelby told her. Rachel looked up at Shelby and smiled. It was a genuine smile and, Shelby realized, the first one that she had actually seen on her child's face all week.

"Come on. Let me get dressed and then we will watch our movie and eat our ice cream. Do you need something else for your stomach? It is still a bit soon for a full dose, but I can give you some Tylenol instead."

"I just want to lay down with you."

Less than five minutes later, mother and daughter were lying together watching _Rio_, a movie that Shelby found hilarious simply because Rachel loved the movie so much and it was an odd choice for the fourteen year old who usually loved musicals and dance movies.

Rachel stopped eating the ice cream and then snuggled close to her mother.

"Mama, am I gonna feel like this every time?" Rachel asked. She was under her the blankets with her mother, but she had her fuzzy pink blanket under her body and her duck behind her. She slept like this every night, minus her mother, and tonight would be no exception. She had her right hand wrapped in her mother's shirt. Whenever Rachel was held by her mother, her right hand always found its way wrapped into Shelby's shirt. Rachel had even done it when she was an infant and breast feeding. It was a comfort and always had been.

"Maybe for the first day or so, but hopefully aspirin will take out the worst of it, and if it doesn't we will try something different next time."

Rachel nodded and snuggled closer to Shelby.

"I love you, Mama." Rachel said sleepily, "And I am sorry I am a brat sometimes."

Shelby laughed.

"It's okay, love. You are my brat. I love you, too." Shelby whispered. She knew that Rachel would be fast asleep soon, so she helped things along by brushing her fingers through the girl's hair, something that always made her fall asleep.

Shelby finally heard the deep breaths of her sleeping child and looked at the clock beside her bed: 8:30 on the dot.

Shelby smiled. Their talk hadn't lasted quite as long as she had expected it too, but she had also expected a tantrum on Rachel's part. She was glad that she had been wrong. She sighed and scooted down in the bed, barely moving Rachel, so that they would both be comfortable. For once, even Shelby was going to get to fall asleep early, and she was thankful. The day hadn't only been stressful on Rachel, but on her as well. She reached over to her side table and looked at her phone. She shot off a quick text to ask Judy how Beth was doing, received an answer almost immediately stating that the little girl was already tucked into bed and asleep.

Shelby smiled again. Both of her children were safe. Both were loved more than they would ever know. Shelby was happy. She closed her eyes in a moment of bliss and soon fell asleep, happy and content.

* * *

At eleven o'clock that night, Rachel quietly slipped out of the bed and into her room. Thirty minutes later, she was sneaking out of the house, meeting Quinn, Puck, and Finn.

She smiled. Her mother was fast asleep and would never even know that she had been gone.

* * *

**AN: So, Rachel is at a confusing time in her life, yes? She does not know what she wants, and can't even decide how to stay angry at her mom at the moment. **

**Like I said previously, I will not always update this quickly. This was actually the second part of chapter one. **

**Up Next: Angst. Do you need anything else? lol.**


	4. Don't Tell Me You're Sorry

"_Don't tell me you're sorry 'cause you're not_

_Baby, when I know you're only sorry you got caught_

_But you put on quite a show_

_You really had me goin', _

_now it's time to go…" –Take A Bow, Glee Version__  
_  
When Rachel was six, she fell into a puddle of icy water during the middle of one of the coldest days that winter.

That was exactly how she felt on Tuesday when a bright blue slushy was thrown in her face. Cold, upset, and disheartened. She had been having an okay time with everything until that moment. Her mother hadn't realized that she snuck out, Beth had left her alone when she came home from Aunt Judy and Uncle Russ's, and she and her mom had more or less gotten along the rest of the weekend.

Now she was covered in slushy, not for the first time since school started.

"Smart move not telling your high strung mother that you're such a loser you get slushies thrown on you!" an eleventh grade Cheerio hissed in her ear as the older girl passed her.

Hot tears prickled in the corner of Rachel's eyes, but she kept her head up and walked quickly to the gym where her extra clothes, showers, and the football teams' washer and dryer were at. As she had done the last time she had been hit with a slushy, after the first time which Rachel had told her mother had been an accidental slip in the lunch room, Rachel planned on showering and washing her clothes so that she could change back into them before her mother's class, which was usually the first time that Rachel saw her unless the woman was in the lunch room when Rachel was in there. Today Rachel wouldn't eat. She would wait until her clothes were finished washing, hopefully before lunch was over, so that she could switch them over to the dryer.

Right now, she was simply staring at the mirror in front of her, trying to decide why she was in this situation to begin with.

"Here." A voice from behind her said.

Rachel turned around and watched Quinn walk up to her with half a sandwich in her hand.

"I saw what Tess Peters did. I knew you would be in here. You probably should eat something." Quinn said quietly, looking down at her own Cheerio uniform, a uniform she had only received the day before.

"It will probably be you throwing slushies at me before long." Rachel quietly mumbled, grabbing the simple turkey and cheese sandwich and taking a bite.

"I would never do that, Rach! I am going to talk to Tess. She shouldn't be throwing them at you anyways. I overheard her say that the only reason she did today was because you didn't tell Aunt Shel. But if it continues and you refuse to tell her, I will. You shouldn't have to go through this, and you know that Aunt Shel would have a cow if she knew that you were keeping this from her."

"I know; that is why I haven't told her. And you can't either! I know that I am a loser, Quinn. I know that, and nothing Mom does or says is going to change that and in the long run, she would find out about me dating Finn because that is what all of this is about. That and Glee. Do you think that she is going to let me spend time with Kurt over there if she suspects that Finn and I are dating? And, besides you, Kurt is my best friend. Even more than I like Finn, I like Kurt because he has always been there for me."

"Kurt got hit with a slushy this morning too. He went home and changed."

Rachel looked down and finally let the tears fall down her face.

"Rach, you know you're not a loser…don't you? I mean, you're just talking, right? I mean, you're my best friend. You aren't a loser."

Rachel stiffened.

"Thanks, Quinnie," was all she could say. At the moment, she was upset and, honestly, she didn't want to feel better just yet. She wanted to sulk about it. She wanted to feel bad about the fact that she had been hit by a slushy again. She wanted to feel bad that Kurt had also gotten hit with one that morning.

"Well, like I said, if it happens again, I will tell Aunt Shel. Get over it, Rach. She would want to know. I'll see you later." Quinn said, walking out of the locker room before Rachel could say anything else. Quinn couldn't figure out why Rachel was trying to keep this a secret. It sounded stupid to her. Of course, a lot of the things that Rachel had been doing and saying recently sounded stupid to Quinn.

At the moment, though, Quinn couldn't worry about that. She had to talk to Tess Peters.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby was sitting in her classroom grading papers during lunch when her computer dinged, warning her that she had an email. Shelby set her pen aside, thankful for any brief reprieve from the horrible first of the year essays she was grading, and opened the email.

It was from an unfamiliar email address, but the subject caught Shelby's attention: _Do you know what your child was doing Friday night?_

There were also several other email recipients that Shelby was familiar with: Judy, Maribel Lopez, Carole Hummel, Hannah Pierce, Charlotte Puckerman, Margaret Anderson, and several other mothers who were on the PTA or had a child in the school. In all, there were probably over a hundred email recipients, most of them mothers that Shelby was familiar with.

Shelby's curiosity was high now, so after looking at the many names, she scrolled down to the body of the email. It was a video, and the preview screen was simply black. Finding it unusual to be sent a video on her school account, she clicked on it. Anything that would harm her computer would be sent to the junk folder, never making it to her inbox, and Shelby never checked it.

She clicked on the video and almost immediately had to turn the volume on her computer down because of the loud background music. When she looked back at the video, to say that she was shocked was an understatement.

There, on the screen, was her daughter. Rachel. A very scantily clad Rachel. Making out with Finn Hudson. The video was done with a phone, that much Shelby could tell, but she could easily make out the people in the video.

Santana Lopez and Britney Pierce were next in view of the screen. The two were dressed in nearly nothing, if possible even less than Rachel, and dancing to the music in the background.

Puck and Quinn. Dancing. Puck had his hands all over Quinn's behind. At least she was dressed almost decently…never mind, Shelby thought as Quinn turned around. The shirt the child had on was basically see through in the front. All anyone could see was the lacy black bra the girl had on underneath the

Kurt drinking with several other students. Of all the children in the video, Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt were the ones she wanted to go snatch out of the lunchroom. Those children were always at her home, and it angered her to see them behaving to recklessly and irresponsibly. She had watched them grow up and had been in their lives for a long time.

Shelby, after watching another minute of the various children on the video, shut it off and then sat back down in her chair. She didn't know where that party was at, but it was dated the previous Friday, the same night that she and Rachel had had their little talk that oh so obviously had not worked. Shelby took a deep breath. She was so angry, but she also had three more classes to teach and could not take out her anger on her students.

Besides, she wanted to reserve every ounce of it for Rachel. She had thought that she had gotten through to her daughter Friday night…

"Damnit." Shelby hissed. How had she not seen it? How had she not realized that her daughter had snuck out of the house when the girl had fallen asleep right beside her that night?

"_I just went for a run, Mom…"_

Rachel's words came back to haunt her. She now realized why her child had been outside of the house at seven in the morning on Saturday. Oh, she had looked the part, wearing jogging pants and a t-shirt, her face free of makeup and her hair and face sweaty; but, Shelby would almost guarantee that she had simply hid her clothes outside somewhere until she could get them later. Because the clothes that Rachel had on in that video were definitely not the ones she had walked back into the house in on Saturday morning.

Shelby pulled out her cell phone. She had to call Judy to see if she had seen the video yet, though she suspected that she hadn't, as she hadn't called Shelby, and then she needed to call Burt. The other children she really wasn't worried about, but she would not let those particular three get away with this.

However, Shelby knew one thing: there were going to be some very sorry children in Lima that night after their parents viewed that video.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel was back in her regular clothes by the time her mother's class came around. Now class was ending, thankfully, as Shelby had kept sending glares at Rachel throughout the class, which made Rachel want to sink through the floor. Could the woman be any less obvious? Rachel tried to think of what she could have done since that morning to make her mom look at her like that, but she couldn't. Even if her mom found out about the slushies, she didn't think that she would be angry with her.

Rachel picked up her books and started pushing them in her bag so that she could get to Glee.

"Rachel, stay behind." Shelby said from her desk as students made their way out of the classroom.

Rachel looked at her mother, "I have to go to Glee."

Rachel started to walk towards the door again, but her mother's voice stopped her again.

"No. You are not going to Glee today."

This angered Rachel. Glee was the only thing that she had. It was the only thing that she looked forward to concerning school. There was no way in hell that she was going to let her mother take Glee away from her.

"Yes I am! I know that I am grounded for last week, but you never said that I couldn't go to Glee. Besides, you let me go to Glee yesterday!" Rachel whined.

"And you are not going today." Shelby said. She was really trying not to allow Rachel to have the meltdown she knew was coming to happen at that moment, but she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to keep it from happening.

"Mom, I am going to…"

Shelby stepped up to Rachel and glared down at her for several seconds before she spoke again.

"You are _not_ going to Glee. What you are going to do is go get Kurt. He is also not going to Glee and he is already well aware of that fact. I am going to get Quinn."

"Why is Kurt coming with us?" Rachel asked. Shelby knew that, obviously, Rachel wanted to know why Finn wasn't also coming with them. But, Shelby had talked to both Burt and Carole Hummel earlier and they all agreed that Shelby would talk to Kurt first. Kurt had always had a fear of disappointing me, as besides his father Shelby had been the only constant in his life until Carole came along. He was still getting used to Carole and apparently the last time that Carole had lectured him, he had gotten an attitude with the woman. Judy had asked her if she would bring Quinn home after school.

"Why? This is stupid! You can't even give me a reason why!"

Shelby was near the end of her patience. She took a hold of Rachel's arm and pulled her over the computer. Within seconds, she had the email pulled up and the video playing.

Rachel's eyes grew wide. Who the hell had sent that video out? She didn't know, but she sure as hell was going to find out.

"Go tell Kurt that we are leaving. You will both be at the car in five minutes, or you will suffer the consequences. I am going to find Quinn."

Rachel didn't really know what to say. All she could do was turn around and leave the classroom to find Kurt.

What the hell had just happened? And why? Gah she was in so much trouble. She had a feeling that the grounding she had received Friday night was going to be nothing in comparison to whatever her mother chose to do this time.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Kurt came running up to Rachel and looked at her frantically.

"Diva, what the _hell_ is going on? My dad texted me earlier to say that I am not allowed to go to Glee and that Auntie Shel is taking me after school!" Kurt hissed.

"Kurt, I don't know who did it, but someone sent our parents a video of that party Friday night. All I know is that Mom sent me to get you and she went to get Quinn. We have like," Rachel looked at the clock on her phone, "like two minutes to get to the car or she said we would suffer the consequences. She is literally pissed the hell off."

"Oh no, oh no! Elle, what are we going to do? Oh no. Auntie Shel hasn't been mad at me in ages! Not since the…"

"The Petting Zoo Fiasco two years ago. I know, Kurt." Rachel rolled her eyes. Kurt was seriously terrified of upsetting the woman he had dubbed "Auntie Shel" when he was three, not long after his mother and Shelby had become friends. It was possible that Kurt didn't respect anyone as much as he did Shelby. Shelby was rather fond of the boy as well, and, just as she would her daughters and Quinn, would step in front of a moving car to save the boy if it was ever necessary.

Rachel thought about the incident that they had dubbed The Petting Zoo Fiasco. Shelby had taken Kurt and Rachel to the fair, just the two of them. Rachel had been going through a phase where she had decided that she was going to be vegan, and that all animals had the right to be free. After some prompting, she had Kurt talked into helping her free the animals. They begged Shelby to go get them a funnel cake while they petted the animals, and once she finally caved, telling them that she would be right back and not to leave the huge tent, they went to work freeing as many animals as they could.

Until the man who owned the animals caught them, demanding to know where their parents were.

That was how Shelby found the two kids five minutes later. They were standing side by side, watching as the man and several of his animal handlers were trying to round up the animals that they had let loose.

Shelby had known automatically that they had had something to do with it. She demanded to know what was going on, and the owner told her what the children had done. Shelby had been furious, set the funnel cake in her hands down in the lap of the owner and told him he could have it, and then had given both kids a smack on the backside. She then told them to start cleaning out cages.

The owner had actually been a bit excited about the free help, and had quickly shown the children how to clean up the cages as they rubbed the stinging spot that Shelby had smacked.

For the rest of the Fair, Shelby had made the two kids go clean out cages for the man every afternoon after school. Rachel's vegan phase had only managed to last two more weeks, and Kurt had been terrified that Shelby no longer loved him like she had before because he had disappointed her.

Shelby had had to talk to Kurt for hours to make him understand that no matter what, she would always love him and that he was stuck with her in his life. It was less than a year later that she found Kurt on her doorstep at two in the morning because he had finally decided to tell her something that could not wait least he lose his nerve, something that she had already suspected: that he was gay. After that, Kurt knew for sure nothing he did or could do would cause Shelby to stop wanting to be in his life.

"Come on. We have one minute to get to the car." Rachel said. Together they practically ran to the front door, but then stopped at the door and walked calmly the rest of the way. Shelby was already in the front seat, and Quinn was sitting in the back. Kurt and Rachel looked at one another and both went to get in the back seat.

"Rachel. Front." Shelby said.

"No thanks! I'll sit in the back." Rachel said, crawling over Beth's booster seat. Shelby grabbed her arm, though, and literally pulled her over the console and into the front seat. Not for the first time, Shelby was thankful that her daughter was small, else that would not have been possible .

Rachel sat there and crossed her arms. This sucked.

"Seatbelt."

This time, Rachel didn't even think about disobeying.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

After picking up Beth, and then dropping Quinn off with her own irate mother, Shelby took the other two delinquents and Beth home. They arrived at the house and Shelby walked around to let Beth out of the car.

"Go up and play in your room for a little bit, Sweet Pea. Mommy needs to talk to Rachel and Kurt." Shelby told Beth as she unlocked the front door. She turned and looked at the car where Rachel and Kurt were still sitting.

"Okay, Mommy. I am gonna go play." Beth said, running up the stairs to her room. She knew that Rachel and Kurt must have done something bad because Mommy's face was in her 'you are in so much trouble' stage. Beth didn't want to be anywhere near her when she started yelling.

Shelby walked back over to the car and opened the passenger door where Rachel was still sitting and talking to Kurt.

"Get out of this car and go sit on the couch. We have much to discuss before the Carole get here."

Both kids got out of the car and slowly walked into the house and then into the living room to sit on the couch. Shelby wasted no time in going into the living room and standing over them, a stance she knew that they hated.

"So, who wants to go first? Who wants to explain to me what the hell you were both thinking when you went to that party on Friday night?" Shelby ranted. Both were looking down at their hands and did not answer her.

"Okay, look, I am not playing this game. You are both busted, along with over a hundred other kids whose parents also received that video today. So, you might as well start talking.

"Why am I here and not at my house?" Kurt asked. Shelby had been expecting the question because, while it was not uncommon for her to lecture Kurt when he did wrong while he was with her, it was uncommon for her to lecture him for something like this.

"Because, Kurt. Your father is not in at the moment, as you well know, and apparently you gave Carole a hard time the last time that she tried to discipline you. Make no mistakes, young man, Carole will be the one to lecture you when she takes you home and she will be the one to hand out your punishment. However, she was not home when school was out, so until she is home, you are stuck with me."

"Finn was at that party too and I don't see him here!" Rachel smarted.

Shelby turned on Rachel.

"For one, Finn is not one of mine like Kurt and Quinn are. Two, he had football practice. And Three, I do not think that you want to open up that bottle just yet young lady!" Shelby hissed.

Rachel sighed. Damnit.

"Kurt, how did you get to the party?"

Kurt looked up at Shelby and cleared his throat, "I road with Finn."

"Rachel?"

"I…um…I got a ride with Puck." Yes. That sounded much better than telling her mother that she walked four blocks and was picked up by Finn.

"So we can add lying to your misdeeds. Rachel, go to your room. I am going to talk to Kurt, and then when Carole picks up Kurt, you and I are having a long talk."

"Fine." Rachel hissed, and jumped off the couch, going to the long way around so that she wouldn't have to walk past her mother and then went up the stairs.

She was definitely in more trouble than Friday night.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby sat on the coffee table in front of the couch that Kurt was sitting on and looked at the young boy in front of her. She knew that sometimes Kurt had a hard time accepting things, but he had to realize that he could not act out because of it. While Kurt was not her child, Shelby was one of the only people who had known Kurt's mother before the woman died and Shelby had, since holding the sobbing boy at the funeral, been a constant in his life. Even before that, really. That was why Kurt respected her. He was probably afraid of her at times, but Shelby was okay with that. She could tell at the current moment he was very nervous about whatever it was that Shelby was going to say.

"So, tell me, why have you been giving Carole such a hard time? You know that she cares about you very much." Shelby said, placing a hand on Kurt's knee so that the boy would look up at her.

"I don't know." He mumbled.

"I think that you do know, Kurt. Now, we can sit here until Carole comes to get you, or we can use the time to talk about whatever it is that is going through your mind."

For several moments, the room was silent. A single tear slid down Kurt's face and he finally looked up at Shelby.

"She is taking over the spot that was supposed to be filled by my Mom. It hurts. It is like my Mom was never there." Kurt whispered.

"Oh, Baby. Carole isn't taking the spot over. I promise. What has happened that this bothers you so much now? It has never bothered you when I did something that would have normally been reserved for your mom."

"But you are my Auntie Shel, it is different. You were there when Mom was alive and when she died and since. Carole wasn't. She married my dad and it is like she is trying to replace my mom. She asked if she could go with us when we went to Pancakes Extravaganza." Kurt mumbled the last part.

Then it all made sense. Pancake Extravaganza was something that Shelby and Kurt's mother Katherine had come up with when Katherine found out she was sick. Once a month, Katherine and Shelby would take Kurt and Rachel to a different Pancake house, sometimes going as far as an hour or two away, and have mommy and me time. Shelby had continued the tradition after Katherine had died so that the kids would always have that to look forward too. Now it was she and Judy who took Kurt, Rachel, Quinn, and Beth.

"Would that be so bad, Kurt?" Shelby finally asked. Another tear fell down his face.

"It's the last thing I have of her." Kurt whispered.

"No, Kurt. It isn't. I promise. You have your father, who has more memories of her than anyone, you have me who has memories of her that she wanted to make sure that you knew as you grew in case your father isn't able to tell you, you have Rachel who sat with you after your mother died and was your friend before and is your friend still, and now you have Carole who merely wants to help make sure that you grow up to be the best that she can be. Carole, who didn't judge you when you told her and your father that you were gay last year. Carole who, when your father was out of town last year for that Mechanic's Conference, took care of you while you had the flu and were sick everywhere. Carole, who even offered to take you shoe shopping. Carole who already treats you as a son. She doesn't expect to be your mother, but she does expect to be your stepmother, and the two, while similar, are different. She knows that she cannot replace Katherine. She doesn't even want too. She knows how close the two of you were. But, Kurt, you have to let her in just a little."

"Do you think that my Mom would have liked Carole?"

"Oh sweetie, I think that your mother would have loved Carole. She would have loved her even more when she realized how easily Carole slipped into the role of taking care of you."

Now Kurt was crying a little bit harder. It was possible, he suddenly realized, to love Carole. If he would only let her in.

"Do you think that it is too late for me to let her in?"

Shelby smiled, "No. It would have never been too late for you to let her in. Though, I am sure that she is going to love that the first thing she has to do after you have finally accepted her is punish you." Shelby said sarcastically, "What were you thinking, Kurt?"

"I suppose that I wouldn't get caught. Why can't my dad punish me though? I mean I do want to accept Carole and I suppose she and I have plenty to talk about…"

"Carole, Burt, and I talked about it earlier. We think that since Carole was the one to receive the email with the video in it that it should be her choice on how to punish you. But know this, if I find out that you have been drinking again, young man, I will personally make you regret it. You will never want to look at even a red solo cup again. Understood?" Shelby said seriously.

Kurt's eyes grew wide, "Yes, Ma'am. I understand."

"Good, now I think I just heard Carole pull up. Do not give her a hard time tonight. You owe her the same respect that you give your father and me."

Slowly, the two of them go up and walked to the front door where Carole was fixing to knock. Shelby knew the look on Carole's face. It was the look of dread, annoyance, and of one unsure. Both Carole and Shelby were shocked when Kurt fell against the woman and enveloped her in a hug.

Shelby smiled as Carole rubbed Kurt's back.

"I think everything is going to be fine." Shelby whispered.

Carole looked up at Shelby with glistening eyes and nodded.

Carole Hummel did not know what Shelby Corcoran had done or said to her stepson, but she would be eternally grateful. She had been trying so hard with Kurt to no avail, but now it seemed as if they had finally…finally, hit a turning point.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

After Kurt and Carole left, Shelby went and checked on Beth, who was playing with some dolls in her dollhouse, and then went to Rachel's room. She didn't knock, privacy was a privilege that her child did not currently deserve, and walked into the room. Rachel was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling.

"Sit up. I am going to make this quick." Shelby said.

"Mom, I am sorry! I know that…."

"You are sorry that you got caught. That is all that you are sorry about. I cannot believe that after Friday, after everything that happened and after our talk, that you would sneak out later that night, and then you would lie to my face. Still, you are trying to hide things from me! Don't think that I don't know that there is something going on between you and Finn Hudson either. That will stop. You are fourteen years old! I am so disappointed in you. I am not even sure what to do with you, Rachel Barbra!" Shelby hissed at her daughter.

Rachel looked up at her mother and furrowed her brows.

"You know what, I am only sorry that I got caught! I would have never told you, that is for sure! I had fun Friday night, and I'll have fun the next time I go to a party. I can't help it that you just don't get it! I know you said you had a bad week last week because of my behavior, but guess what, Mom, I had a shitty week too and I needed Friday night to chill!"

Shelby walked over to Rachel and pulled her off of the bed, she landed one almighty smack to her backside, followed by three more. Shelby knew that Rachel felt them because her own hand was stinging slightly. She made Rachel sit back down on the bed and then bent down in front of Rachel, her face mere inches from her daughter's own tear streaked face.

"You may think, young lady, that you are grown, but you are not! For an additional month, you will go nowhere but to school. You will not have a phone, iPod, computer or television access. You will not have any books that you can read for pleasure or a radio. You will go to school, Glee, home. You will do your homework, whatever chores that I tell you too, help with supper, eat and then you will shower and go to bed by eight o'clock. I am no longer playing games with you, Rachel. I can also guarantee that if you sneak out again, I will know it. I will know it and you will regret it. I have had it up to here," Shelby raised her hand close to the top of her head, "and I will no longer put up with it. I do not know what happened to my Rachel in the last week and a half, but she needs to find her way back because this new Rachel is going to get herself into more trouble than she can handle. And, I promise you that I will always find out, and that I can come up with some very creative punishments if necessary. Now, I want you to get your butt downstairs and sit at the bar in the kitchen. You will do your homework, and then after supper you will get ready for bed. You are now officially on your eight o'clock bedtime!"

Shelby dared Rachel to say anything else with the look in her eye, but the girl didn't, instead grabbing her backpack and heading downstairs, trying to give her mother a wide berth.

If Rachel wanted to play hardball, then Shelby would play right along with her. Shelby just hoped that it didn't take Rachel long to realize that she would, indeed, lose every time.

* * *

**AN: Oh, dear Rachel. Must we always push mommy's buttons? Up Next: Several weeks later, a visitor from the past, and who knows what else...**

**I know these chapters have been coming rather quickly, and again, they won't always be this fast. I have a paper due at the end of this week and one due Monday so it may be a few days...esepcially since the chapters are longer than what I normally write for my fanfics. **

**To the reviewer who asked about the surrogacy: all of that will be answered in a few chapters...I don't want to give anything else away:)**

**To all of my reviewers: Thank you so much for the awesome reviews. You guys make me want to write more and faster because you leave such awesome reviews!:):):)**


	5. The Drunken Visitor

**Chapter Five: A Drunken Visitor**

"_Of all he had  
Of all he lost  
A selfish life  
And guess comes with the cost" –Walking Away by Lifehouse_

Five and a half weeks and eleven slushies later, Rachel was truly sorry that she had gotten caught sneaking out. They still were not sure who had sent that video to the parents, but since over a hundred kids had ended up grounded or had faced other punishments, whoever had taken it was probably hoping that he or she was never discovered. There would be hell to pay if he or she ever was, that was for sure.

Everyone who had gotten caught and even some of those who hadn't been, were furious. When practically half the school was in some sort of trouble, it meant that there wasn't a whole lot to do for everyone. For at least two weeks, barely anyone was allowed out of their homes once the news about that stupid party had gotten around.

Shelby had never been as harsh during a grounding as she had this time. There was barely a day that went by that Shelby wasn't adding one thing or another onto the punishment she had given Rachel. One thing was for certain, Rachel was positive that their house, from the attic to the basement, had never been as clean as it was right now. She was certain that there was nothing else her mother could find for her to clean. Of course, she had been certain of that two weeks before as well, and she had ended up yelling at her mom, resulting in the not so pleasant occurrence of her weeding out the flower beds in the back yard with a slightly sore backside. Her mom didn't even plant flowers!

It was all ridiculous, but she was trying to be on her best behavior so that she could finally get off of this grounding. And the eight o'clock bedtimes. Beth was getting to stay up later than her, and that pissed Rachel off. She had attempted to stay up past eight several times as well, but she was beginning to think that her mom seriously had a sixth sense. She knew every single time that Rachel got out of bed and was right there to send her back. Then there had been the day that Beth had decided that she could finally make fun of Rachel for having to go to bed before her…That had also not ended well and both Rachel and Beth had been sent to bed immediately. It had been only a little past seven. Shelby had savored the moments though, because the house had been blissfully quiet, something that did not happen often lately.

Today, though, Rachel was lucky. She really did suspect that her mom had run out of things to make her do because she had sent her and Beth to the park for an hour or so and had even given Rachel back her phone for the time that they were gone. Rachel was possibly more excited than Beth at the prospect of getting to leave the house without their mother. She had been starting to feel caged in, and was to the point of promising never to get into trouble again.

Shelby had gladly sent them on their way fifteen minutes after they had arrived home at 4:30. It was going to start getting dark earlier soon, and along with that the colder weather would come. She wanted the girls to get the fresh air while they could and, honestly, she needed a break. Rachel thought that being grounded was only hard on her, but Shelby would gladly inform the teen that grounding her was no picnic for herself either, Rachel herself made sure of that. Shelby knew that Rachel was also upset that most of her friends were already off of their groundings because Shelby had had to tack on the four weeks to the two weeks Rachel had already had. But, that was Rachel's own fault and no one else's.

"Sister, can I swing?" Beth asked, still holding onto Rachel's hand from their walk to the park. Beth had promised their mom that she wouldn't let go of Rachel's hand until they got to the park and Rachel said it was okay. While Shelby knew that Rachel and Beth fought, like all siblings did, she also knew that when Rachel was watching her sister that she would keep an eye on her little sister like a hawk and would keep her safe. They even got along perfectly when they were alone, saving their fighting for when they were around adults. Shelby just accepted it. She remembered fighting with Leah a lot, but now that they were older, they got along really well. Shelby figured that once both of them got a little older, that the fighting would stop.

"Yes, go swing. I am going to sit on the edge and watch you, okay? Just don't go off anywhere else. And, if you need anything, let me know. Okay?"

Beth nodded and then ran over to the swing where there were several other kids running around, a couple who went to school with Beth and were the five year olds friends.

"Hey!"

Rachel looked up at watched as Quinn sat down beside her.

Rachel smiled. She and Quinn hadn't been able to hang out much, due to obvious reasons.

"Hey, thanks for coming out here. I don't mind sitting around here while she plays, but it gets boring after a while if I just sit here." Rachel said, playing with the grass that was around her feet.

"How are the Cheerios?" Rachel finally asked. She didn't want to be jealous that Quinn was becoming so popular in High School, but when you had been doused with fourteen slushies since school started, it was hard.

"It is okay. Coach Sylvester is marginally insane. I like Glee much better."

Rachel merely nodded. She also liked Glee. It wasn't quite what she expected, that was for sure, but she liked it all the same. She hated that she was almost sure that they would not win anything with the way that Mr. Shue ran things. When Rachel had been younger, she had sat through many rehearsals that her mom had held, and she knew that the way Mr. Shue ran things was not of the same caliber.

She had tried to talk to her mom about it, but things had been so strained between them recently that she hadn't had much luck. And, honestly, she didn't really want to bring up school that much. She knew that she had been able to keep the slushie attacks called by Tess Peters a secret and she wanted to keep it that much.

"I don't know why she does it, Rach. But I think that you need to tell Aunt Shel…I am serious…"

"I don't want her to know. And besides, you said the same thing the second week of school and I still haven't seen you tell her about them. You don't want her to be mad at you because you knew it was going on and you don't want her to find out that you threw that slushie on Jacob the other day. I am surprised that you even want to be friends anymore with me since I am one of the losers who constantly get slushies thrown at her."

"Rach, that isn't fair…You are my best friend. You will always be. I mean, we are family. And besides, it's only because you won't tell Aunt Shel that they keep coming."

"Yet you still don't take up for me at school. It is your new friends throwing those stupid drinks at me and you do nothing, just like everyone else. And now I can't tell Mom because she will know that I hid it from her for six weeks and I don't really know how she will feel about that."

"I'll get them to stop, Rach. I will." Quinn said. She knew that if her parents or Aunt Shel found out about the slushies that she would be in trouble because she had thrown some. She had never thrown one at Rachel; however, Quinn knew that the only reason that Rachel was still getting them thrown at her really was because she hadn't told her mom and she was still secretly dating Finn. It was a cruel cycle, but if Rachel wouldn't help herself, then was there anything that Quinn could do? Quinn didn't want to get into trouble any more than Rachel did.

Rachel looked down to the ground and sighed. She knew that she and Quinn were friends, but it just felt like they were in two totally different spots in life at the moment. It was confusing.

"Rach, who is that guy talking to Beth?" Quinn said suddenly, starting to stand up. Rachel's head jerked up. She didn't know that man. She looked around the playground. The man was black, light skinned, but still Rachel saw no other children who could belong to him. There was a Hispanic child, Amelia, but she was with her mother, Mrs. Garcia, a woman that Rachel knew because she lived down the street from them and had babysat her when she was younger. She still watched Beth on occasion and would check up on Rachel and Beth if they were home alone later than Shelby would like, but that was really rare. The rest of the children were white and all of their parents were there as well, most Rachel also knew in one way or another because this park was really only frequented by people who lived in their neighborhood.

"Beth!" Rachel yelled, running towards her sister. She reached her baby sister in record time and jerked the little girl behind her.

"Get away from my sister!" Rachel yelled, then turned to Beth, "You know that you are not supposed to talk to strangers, Beth!" Rachel turned back around and looked up at the man with a glare.

The man looked at her, his eyes glimmering with recognition.

"You look just like her. I should have known you would…"

"Rachel, is everything okay?" Mrs. Garcia, asked. She had been watching the man and had been just about to go over and get Beth when Rachel had run up to her.

Rachel didn't answer.

"Nothin' 'bout you looks like him. You are practically the exact replica of her though. You must be…fourteen years old now. Such a pretty little thing…" the man said and reached to touch Rachel's hair. Rachel was starting to get really freaked out. Thankfully, at that moment, Mrs. Garcia walked in front of her, hiding her from the man.

"Rachel, I have called your mom. She is coming. Sir, you need to leave before I call the cops as well. This is a playground for children and your kind is not welcome here."

Rachel heard someone behind her. Then she felt herself being snatched backwards and shoved behind someone else so that now both Mrs. Garcia and the other person were between her and the man. Rachel looked up.

How the hell had her mother gotten to the playground so quickly?

"What do you think that you are doing here? You have no right to be here!" Shelby screamed. Quinn was now standing beside Rachel and staring at the two angry women in front of her.

"She looks just like you, Shelby Corcoran. I knew that we had picked the right one to carry her. I knew that she would be beautiful. I bet she sings like an angel as well." The man slurred.

Rachel finally realized that he was drunk. How had she let him get so close to her baby sister? What if he had hurt Beth? She never would have been able to forgive herself. This man was crazy.

"Hiram would have loved her. He would have doted on her. Never would have let her go…"

Then it hit Rachel. The impact of that hit almost knocked her to her knees…

_Rachel looked for her school list amongst her mother's things. It was only a few days before school and she wanted her school list so that she could get her school supplies in order. She was so excited about school. Finally she was in the ninth grade! Finally she was going to get to take her Mom's class. It was something that she had looked forward to for years. She just knew that it was going to bring her and her mother even closer together than they already were._

_Rachel started looking through her mom's desk drawer and noticed a worn looking manila envelope in the bottom. Rachel rarely ever even went into her mother's office, but Shelby wasn't there and she really wanted that school list. She picked up the envelope. It was slightly dusty, which surprised Rachel because her mom was a neat freak. She wasn't OCD about it, but she definitely liked their home dust free and clean. _

_Rachel opened the envelope and out fell several papers and pictures and a pen that Rachel had never seen. Sifting through the mess, she noticed that several of the pictures were sonograms. She vaguely remembered seeing sonograms of Beth when Frannie Fabray had been pregnant with her. Rachel picked them up. There was one from when her mother had been eight weeks, twelve weeks, and then every four weeks until Rachel had been born. They had her mother's name in the corner of each one. There was a tiny bracelet that matched the one that Rachel had seen many times in the baby book that her mother kept on her nightstand right beside Beth's baby book. _

_Rachel picked up the pen. It was purple. It was beautiful pen. Something that Rachel would love to write with. It was something that she and her mother shared, a love of ink pens, especially those which wrote really well. _

_Rachel picked up a loose piece of paper from her mother's desk and wrote her name. Rachel Barbra Corcoran. Rachel silently wondered if she could steal this pen and if her mother would ever realize it. She loved it. It wrote more smoothly than anything Rachel had ever written with before. Almost as if by magic._

_Rachel picked up the papers. She stacked them all up and looked at them. _

_The more Rachel read, the more she became confused. Contracts for Surrogacy? Contracts of Adoption? One contract that stated Shelby Corcoran could not see her child before the child turned eighteen?_

_What had Rachel just stumbled across?_

_Rachel picked up something else that she had missed. A newspaper article. An obituary . Rachel picked it up. Names and dates crossed her eyes. Hiram Berry. Beloved husband of Leroy Berry. Killed. December 18, 1998._

_Rachel looked at the papers. There were more papers. All with the word VOID stamped over them. The last piece of paper was clean. There were no signatures. There was nothing. _

_Except for a pen mark on the signature line, like someone had started to sign his or her name and stopped before he or she could do so. _

"_She didn't want me." Rachel whispered. Tears filled her eyes. Her mother had planned on giving her up. Her mother had never planned on keeping her. She was supposed to go live with two gay men as their child until one of them died the day she had been born. _

_Then no one had wanted her and her mom had gotten stuck with her. _

_It was hard for her to accept. She loved her mom more than anyone in the entire world, and her mom had not wanted her. _

_But she had wanted Beth. She had gone out of her way to adopt Beth. To give Beth a safe home when her biological mother could not. At that moment, Rachel hated Beth's very existence. She knew that she didn't hate her sister, but she did hate this situation. She felt so confused. So unsure._

_Rachel carefully put everything back where she had found it, and then went to her room and cried. _

That night, she and her mom had gotten into one of the biggest fights they had ever gotten into, and Rachel didn't even remember what it was about now.

"It's true." Rachel whispered, "You really didn't want me, Mom." Rachel cried, and then turned and ran out of the park.

Shelby had barely heard her, but she had. She turned to watch her daughter run out of the park, confused. Why would Rachel think that?

Shelby was angry now. Not at her child, but at the man in front of her.

"You will stay away from Rachel. You will stay away from my children or I will get a restraining order. You have no rights to Rachel. She is nothing to you." Shelby shouted.

"You didn't even tell her about us?" The man asked drunkenly, laughing as he did so.

"She knows that her father was killed and that is all she ever needed to know. There is no guarantee that I would have gone through with anything, but I can assure you now that I will not allow you anywhere near her. She is nothing to you, so you have no reason to see her. I will not see you anywhere near her again or you will regret it! Beth, Quinn, come on. Selene, I will call you tonight, thank you for keeping an eye on my children."

Shelby began walking towards her car and then bent down and picked Beth up because the girl was silently crying from the confusion of everything.

Shelby merely sighed. She had to find Rachel. She had a lot to explain to the girl, and she felt like it was not going to be as easy as she would have liked.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby had taken Quinn home, not wanting her to walk there alone after everything that had just happened, and then had dropped Beth off at Leah's house. Leah was going to come over later, so it was easier just to let Beth stay there. Shelby had to talk to Rachel and she really needed to talk to her alone. Recently, it felt like there was always something that needed to be talked about.

She walked into the house and put her things on the table when she noticed a note on the kitchen counter:

_I am staying at Kurt's. Leave me alone and I will not answer my phone._

_I don't care what you say. I am mad at you, and I plan on staying mad. _

_So, just LEAVE me alone!_

_-Rachel_

The hell she would leave her alone! Rachel didn't seem to understand that Shelby was the mom and Rachel was the kid. But, if amongst everything else, Shelby needed to remind her of that, she would.

Shelby picked up her phone. Instead of dialing Rachel's number, she called Carole Hummel.

It rang twice.

"_Hello, Shelby?"_

"Hello, Carole. Is Rachel there?"

"_Yes, she came in about ten minutes ago. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but she and Kurt went down to his room. I figured that I would leave them alone for now, as long as she and Finn were not alone."_

Shelby sighed, relieved that her daughter was where she said she was going to be and that Carole was making sure that Finn and Rachel were not alone together. She had told Carole that she suspected that they were dating after the party incident, but that Rachel was not allowed to date until she turned sixteen. Thankfully, Carole was a rational woman and agreed with Shelby. Rachel was only fourteen after all.

"Do you mind if I let her stay over there for a bit? To cool off? Some things happened today and she is not happy with me right now. I think some time with Kurt will help. I will come pick her up in about forty-five minutes if you do not mind."

"_Of course, Shelby. She is always welcome here."_

"Thank you, Carole. I will see you in a few hours."

Both women soon hung up the phones and Shelby was left to the complete silence of her home. She needed to research Leroy Berry to see where he had come from. She had not heard from the man since that day in the hospital so long ago. She didn't know why he was here now, or why he would show up at a park where her daughters were, drunk no less, but she was going to figure it out.

She knew that Leroy had no rights to her child. In fact, after Rachel's birth, she had made sure of that. She had met with lawyers and they all assured her that he had no ties to the child, therefore would never be able to try and take Rachel from her if he suddenly changed his mind. The check for the surrogacy had never gone through and with the death of his partner, the biological father, it probably would have been void anyways. So, she had never told Rachel the entire story surrounding her birth. She hadn't felt that it was necessary. She had wanted Rachel more than anything in the world, more than life itself, and nothing would ever change that fact.

She had been told by her lawyers that it would be wise to keep everything just in case something came up during the first year of Rachel's life, so she had put most of the papers in a manila envelope and had forgotten about them. Rachel had always been hers, papers would not have changed that fact. She did wonder why Hiram's name had upset Rachel so much though. Why would Rachel think that she didn't want her? That child really did mean more to her than life itself. What had Leroy said to her before Shelby had arrived?

Shelby sighed.

She had to decide how to approach this matter. It was not going to be easy. She knew that much because she knew that her daughter was not going to let it be easy. She had a little over half an hour before she needed to go pick Rachel up.

Shelby had some things she needed to pull out to show Rachel though. She wasn't sure if it would work, but she would definitely try.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel had talked to Kurt for over twenty minutes when she decided that she needed to leave the house.

"Where will you go?" Kurt asked. He knew that she wasn't ready to go home yet, which was why she wanted to leave his home. Shelby would be there soon to pick her up, Carole had told them that much, and Rachel was not going to be there.

She wanted to make her mom worry. But, what if her mom didn't? What if she was happy that Rachel had disappeared? Then she really could focus all of her time on Beth, the kid she chose to keep instead of the kid she got stuck with.

"Aunt Judy and Uncle Russ's."

"You know that they will call your mom." Kurt said.

"I won't stay long. Then I will head back here. I know that she is on her way here, so I can head there now. I want to ask Quinn what happened after I left the park. Hopefully I will be able to sneak in without anyone other than Quinn finding out."

"You know that Auntie Shel is going to be pissed the hell off at you once she does find you if you keep running."

"You won't tell her where I am at, will you, Kurt? Please don't. I need time to think. I mean she kept all of this from me. She can't expect me not to be angry with her about it."

Kurt scooted closer to Rachel and put his arm around her.

"I won't tell her. Even when she gives me the look…you know the look…I won't give in."

Rachel laid her head over on Kurt's shoulder and smiled.

"Thanks, Kurt."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby knocked on the Hummel's door and was greeted by Carole. The two walked into the kitchen and Carole called Kurt up from his room and the two women waited.

Within minutes, Kurt walked into the kitchen and glared at Shelby. While deep down he was slightly afraid to push the woman, he was angry at her on Rachel's behalf. He was nothing if not a loyal friend.

"Where is Rachel, Kurt? Would you mind telling her that it is time to go?" Shelby said, ignoring the glares that Kurt was sending her.

Kurt crossed his arms and looked at her.

"She isn't here." He smirked.

"What? She was here five minutes ago." Carole said, looking at Kurt.

"Well, obviously she left. Not that I blame her." Kurt said, rolling his eyes and then looking out the kitchen window.

"_Kurt_." It was one simple word that passed through Shelby's lips, but it had a lot of power behind it. She was not playing games, but she knew that Kurt, in a way, was. She knew the boy well, and she really was surprised at his actions at the moment.

"I am not telling you anything, Auntie Shel! I don't blame Rachel. You are the one that messed up."

"Excuse me?" Shelby said, standing up and walking to Kurt where she towered over the fourteen year old boy. Kurt swallowed. He had to stay strong. He had to stay strong for Rachel.

But Auntie Shel really scared him.

"She is mad at you and I don't blame her! Some random man comes up freaking her out telling her that she was supposed to be his and she didn't know what to do. Only to have you come up and actually know what the man is talking about. Of course she is pissed off at you!"

"Watch your mouth, Kurt Hummel." Shelby told him.

"Kurt where is Rachel? She was just here." Carole asked, concerned that the girl had somehow gotten out of the house without her knowledge.

"I told you that I am not going to tell you. She," he pointed to Shelby, "does not deserve to know." Kurt crossed his arms back over his chest. Hm, he wasn't one to talk back usually, but this actually felt kind of good.

"Fine, Kurt. Then you are grounded for your mouth and defiance."

The words hung in the air and surprised Kurt.

Because they came not from Shelby, who he had expected to get in trouble for, but from Carole.

Kurt swallowed. Sure Carole had grounded him for the party thing six weeks before, but she had never punished him for something else.

"Gah. Fine. I am going to my room."

"Leave your phone, please." Carole said. Kurt froze.

"Now, Kurt."

Kurt turned and slammed his phone on the table and then stomped out of the room. Rachel so owed him for this.

Back in the kitchen Shelby sat back down and rested her face in her hands.

"She probably went to Quinn's. I don't know where else she would have gone." Shelby said, slowly moving her hands to her own phone and texting Rachel, telling her that she needed to get home immediately. She had only just remembered that she had given Rachel her phone back before she and Beth had gone to the park.

"Do you know why she ran?" Carole asked. She didn't want to pry, but it was obvious that Shelby needed to talk.

"Yes. It is long story, but the short, condensed version is that I was a surrogate. I was pregnant with Rachel and I had planned on giving her to a gay couple. The day she was born I nearly had a breakdown at the thought of giving her up. I didn't know how I was going to give up my baby, a baby who I had carried for nine months and who I had felt kick and listened to a strong heartbeat…I just didn't know. I was literally falling apart when one of the men, Leroy Berry, came in to tell me that his husband had been killed. Well, the moment that Rachel was born, we knew that Hiram was the father because the baby was too light to be Leroy's who is a black man. And, Leroy no longer wanted her. Not that I would have been able to go through with it after I heard that Hiram had been killed. It changed everything. I needed my baby and fate worked some kind of magic. I am sorry that Hiram was killed, but I was not and am not sorry that I didn't have to fight to keep my child. She is angry because I have never really told her the events surrounding her birth. I didn't think that they mattered. Her biological father was dead and the other man had no ties to her and knew it. He showed back up today. Out of the blue. I haven't heard or seen him since that day." Shelby was nearly in tears. This was her baby that she was talking about. She was angry that Leroy thought it was okay to disrupt their lives like he had.

"Oh. So, how much of the story does Rachel know?" Carole asked.

"I am sure, at this very moment, she knows what she wants to know and will ignore everything else. But I plan on talking to her about it tonight. As soon as I find her and discuss the fact that she is not to run from me." I guess that I will call Judy and my sister Leah to see if she is at either of their homes. She might run off, but she knows better than to go to anyone else's home without permission."

"You are more than welcome to stay here as long as you want." Carole said, getting up to make some tea. At the moment, it was all that she knew too do.

At that moment, Shelby's phone dinged. She had a message from Rachel. She opened it and simply stared at the two words as her anger was renewed, only this time at Rachel:

_Fuck you._

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Quinn had had no answers. Apparently nothing had happened after she left the park. So, almost immediately, Rachel had left. She was so angry at the moment, and she honestly wasn't even sure why her anger was only directed at her mom. Obviously that other man hadn't wanted her either. She was unwanted. She figured that her mom was at home since she had sent her a message telling her that she needed to get home. Of course, the message she had sent her mom probably hadn't been her brightest moment…

Rachel snuck around the back of the Hummel's house. She didn't want Carole Hummel to realize that she had come back. She was going to hide in Kurt's room, and hopefully Finn would come down and hang out with her. She wasn't planning on going anywhere, that was for sure.

Since Kurt's room was in the basement, his room was easy to get into because of the basement window that was on the ground. That had been how Rachel had gotten out earlier, and how he she would get back in. She had already texted Kurt to say that she was on her way back. He had texted her to tell her that he would be waiting.

Rachel was thankful that the window was already open. It wasn't easy to open from the outside. It was doable, but difficult. She got on her stomach and pushed herself feet first through the window. Once she was in Kurt's room, she dusted herself off and looked up.

"Nice of you to join me."

Rachel's eyes grew wide as she stared into the flaming eyes of her mother and looked at the two phones in her mother's hand. One of them was her mother's and one single text was on the screen. Rachel knew what it said. The other phone was Kurt's.

What the hell had she just gotten herself into?

* * *

**AN: So, what did you guys think? Rachel is confused, that is for sure, but she is probably in a tiny bit of hot water...So, what does everyone think is going to happen now? Did Rachel take it a step too far? What about Shelby? (Who I really kinda feel sorry for at the moment..) anyways, let me know:)**

**Thanks for all the reviews. The reviews make me want to write faster...even though I have a paper due this week and next week lol. I will still try to get the next chapter out soon... :)**


	6. An Almost Understanding

**Chapter Six: An Almost Understanding**

"_I hear her voice in my head,_

_ Don't let me down…" –Idina Menzel, Don't Let Me Down, (Altered slightly by me.)_

The car ride was eerily silent. Rachel was honestly too afraid to say anything and Shelby was simply too angry. Rachel was trying to disappear into the interior of the front seat, but so far she wasn't having any luck. She was also worried. She was pretty sure that she would have been fine and not in all that much trouble before she'd sent the text.

What had she been thinking? Saying the F word out loud was bad enough in her mom's book, but to actually have the gall to write it in a text and send it to her mother of all people? She had to have momentarily lost her mind.

A tear fell down her cheek. Rachel hasn't even realized that she was crying until she felt the actual tear sliding down her face and dripping onto her shirt.

"Mom..."

"Not right now, Rachel."

Oh yes, Shelby Corcoran was not happy at all. She was angry. Very angry. She would have been fine with Rachel running to Kurt's house because she had left a note and she had needed the time to calm down after what had happened at the park. But then she had run somewhere else trying to evade her mother and then the text had been sent. She would pay dearly for the text message. Shelby was considering locking the text messaging on Rachel's phone, but she wasn't quite sure yet. The punishment had to fit the crime, though, and that definitely would fit the crime committed here.

Shelby pulled into the driveway and parked the car. Leah was already there, though Shelby had hoped she wouldn't be for another hour or so. Of course, after everything that had gone on, it was close to eight o'clock. It was nearly Beth's bedtime and neither she nor Rachel had had supper. Not that she was overly worried about food at the time. But still, there was that nagging in the back of her mind to feed her kid because Rachel was hungry whether the girl would admit it or not. Her thoughts were definitely focused on her kid and her misbehavior. She also wanted to talk to Rachel about why she thought she was unwanted.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Even if she was being the world's biggest brat.

"I want you to go up to my room and wait." Shelby said.

"I'd rather wait in my own room." Rachel said, opening the door to get out of the car.

"I wasn't aware that I was asking what you wanted, Rachel." Shelby stated.

Rachel rolled her eyes as she got out of the car.

"Whatever."

That single word went all over Shelby, who had hit her tolerance level the moment she opened the text Rachel had sent her earlier. She was through playing games. Shelby jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut. She marched up to the front of the car and grabbed Rachel's arm as the girl tried to make her way into the house.

"What is with you?" Shelby hissed. She had to remain calm. She had to get to the bottom of this.

"I asked you a question." Shelby said when Rachel didn't answer her.

Rachel looked up into her mother's eyes. For several seconds she simply stared.

"_You_. It's all your fault." Rachel hissed, trying to jerk away from Shelby.

"How is the way you are behaving my fault, young lady?"

"I know the truth! You can't hide anymore! You might as well send me to live with that crazy ass man at the park! He was supposed to be my father wasn't he? But he didn't want me either. You didn't want me. He didn't want me. No one in the whole damn world wanted me when I was born! But everyone wanted Beth. Beth is so fucking fantastic! How does it make you feel to know that I finally know? How does it make you feel to know that I finally know just how much of a selfish bitch you really are?" Rachel screamed at her mother.

Shelby's hand, in that moment, had a mind of its own. She pulled Rachel closer to her with her right hand, and then with her left smacked Rachel's behind, hard. She knew the smack had hurt, as her hand was stinging too.

"I can promise you, Rachel Barbra Corcoran, that there are plenty more smacks in your future tonight. But right now, I am too angry at you and I am not going to punish you while I am this angry. Now if you value your ability to sit, you will get your ass into that house and into my room without another word. I have reached my limit, child. I don't know what happened to my Rachel, my sweet child who would never hurt anyone, but she needs to come back!" Shelby said, shaking Rachel slightly. With another smart smack to Rachel's butt, she gently pushed the girl towards the house. This time Rachel went without so much as a glance at her mother.

Shelby merely stood outside for the next five minutes. She needed to calm down. It just wasn't happening. She finally walked into the house and threw her purse and keys on the kitchen table. She sat down at the kitchen table and rested her head in her hands.

Not a minute later, she felt a hand running soothing circles on her back.

Leah. Shelby didn't even have to look up to know that it was her big sister.

"What happened? I didn't think you were mad that she ran off." Leah asked, taking the closest chair to Shelby.

Shelby reached forward and pulled her purse towards her so that she could get her phone out. She unlocked it and then went to the text that Rachel had sent. She handed Leah the phone without ever looking up at the older woman.

Leah hissed.

"She didn't!" Leah said, surprised at her niece's newfound audacity.

"She did. She also called me a selfish bitch outside not five minutes ago. Among other coarse language that she decided to litter her little speech with."

Leah looked at her sister. She was slightly surprised that Rachel was still alive to be honest.

"Why? What is her deal?"

For several moments, Shelby was silent. Then she let out a soft sob, "She thinks that I didn't want her when she was born! She thinks that I wanted Beth more than her. This is all Leroy Berry's fault! Why is that man here? He can't see Rachel. And he was drunk at a playground for children! He was talking to Beth! Selene Garcia told me that Rachel had run up to him because Beth was talking to him and no one knew who he was. She isn't sure what he said, but when I got there, something happened and Rachel ran off. LeeLee, how could she think that I don't want her?" Shelby sobbed. Leah cringed at the name Shelby had given her as a child, but her sister's tears erased the fact that she was still, even at forty, annoyed by the name. Shelby's sobs were quiet, mainly because Shelby didn't want the kids to hear her crying, but they broke Leah's heart a little. Rachel had no idea how much she was hurting her mother, and it hadn't just been this onetime event. It was recently. Something was up with the girl and no one could figure out what it was because Rachel wouldn't tell them.

"You have to talk to her, Shel. Something has to give. She has been a right terror for nearly two months."

"I don't understand how she could think that I wanted Beth more than her, LeeLee. I don't understand why she thinks I don't want her!" Shelby said quietly. She was upset, but she didn't want the girls to know that.

"Have you ever talked to her about Beth? What does she remember about that whole situation?"

"She was barely nine, Leah. And I didn't include her in many conversations about the adoption because she wouldn't have understood. I don't know if she would understand everything now. I did ask her if she would like a sister because I didn't think it was fair to not ask her. Several people told me that I shouldn't because if I would have been pregnant Rachel wouldn't have had a choice, but I wasn't pregnant and I felt that it was only fair that she have some say…"

"Maybe it's time to tell her about the circumstances surrounding Beth's adoption though. She is older now. You will have to tell her that she isn't to say anything to Beth, and possibly Quinn, but she deserves to know why you adopted Beth. You don't want her to find out about that from anyone but you. And..."

Leah was silent for a moment. She was deep in thought.

"And what?" Shelby asked.

"Rachel, for some reason, thinks that you don't want her. Perhaps you need to tell her about after the surgery." Leah said, still deep in thought.

Shelby looked up at her sister, confused. Nothing major had happened after the surgery when she had had to have her ovaries taken out...

"Shel... Really? You can think of nothing?"

Shelby shrugged. Leah had stayed with her and Rachel while she recovered. It had taken her a while to recover because she hadn't taken any pain medication. Rachel had almost been a year old.

"Shelby! Good grief woman! You had major surgery and then refused pain medication! All so you could breastfeed Rachel because she wouldn't take formula for anyone and would barely eat any baby food because you were not around for two days. She wouldn't eat anything unless you gave it to her after the first day. I was bringing her up to the hospital several times a day so that you could feed her, but even you couldn't get her to take the formula. The doctors tried to talk you out of going off of the pain medication, I tried to talk you out of it, mom tried to talk you out of it... You told each and every one of us to go to hell because your baby was not going to starve when it could easily be fixed! It took you two days before the doctors would let you feed Rachel, but you continued pumping breast milk because you were afraid of going dry and you wanted to feed her as soon as possible."

"Any mother would do that! She wouldn't drink anything else!" Shelby said quickly.

Leah looked at her and shook her head.

"No, little sister, every mother would not do that. Many would have kept trying to give her the formula, stating that when she was hungry enough she would eat it. You were barely twenty-one years old and in a hell of a lot of pain. But every feeding, there you were, holding your baby girl, her right hand wrapped up in your shirt in that annoying little way she still does when the two of you cuddle. I can't even say that I would have been able to go off pain medication for Elijah, and I was thirty and more mature than you where at twenty-one when I had him. Hell, I wanted pain medication right after I had him!"

Shelby shook her head. She still wasn't quite sure what the big deal was. She would do anything for her daughters. It didn't matter what it was. They were her kids. Her whole world. She would do the same thing over and over again if it was necessary. She had known that other people hadn't understood, but even then, Shelby and baby Rachel had had an understanding of one another. A bond that people didn't seem to quite understand. And when her baby refused to eat any food given to her from anyone else, Shelby had done what she had needed to do. It had taken her a while to heal, the pain hadn't helped, but she was there for Rachel at every feeding. After that incident, Shelby had a very hard time weaning Rachel. It had almost been as if the baby had realized that her mother had been sick and didn't want to lose that closeness for even a day. Rachel had had nightly feedings until she was well into her second year. Shelby had gotten to the point where she dared people to say something to her about it. It was her child, the only child she would ever have that connection with, and it was no one else's business. It had been one of the rare fights that Leah and Shelby had had as adults. People simply did not understand. Shelby was always grateful that she had only had to have her ovaries removed. Otherwise there had been a very real possibility of her not being able to breastfeed Rachel after the surgery. There had still been a chance, but thankfully everything had worked out.

"I can come up with thousands of stories about why you wanted Rachel. I can even tell you that I don't think you would have given her to those men anyways. But until you can think of the right story, until you can tell her in your own words, I don't think it is going to matter. We both know that you wanted Rachel more than you wanted to live. And, honestly, I don't think you should have to prove that to the fourteen year old brat upstairs. You have done everything for her. And today, she threw it back in your face."

"She is hurting, Leah. I am not fool enough to not see that. But I am going to talk to her. After you take her a sandwich. She hasn't eaten since lunch and I know that she is hungry. After she is finished eating, I will talk to her."

Shelby got up and went to the fridge to pull out things she needed to make Rachel a sandwich the way the girl liked it. Leah watched. It was actually quite amusing to the older woman, to watch her sister, who had once refused pain medication to feed her infant, to make that same child a sandwich in the middle of all this drama.

She watched as Shelby took two slices of white bread, placed a slice of cheese and two pieces of turkey on it. She watched as Shelby then took both of her hands and smashed the sandwich together and then took a knife to cut off the edges. It was the way Rachel had always liked her sandwiches. No condiments, nothing fancy, just a crustless, smashed sandwich.

Next, Shelby grabbed a coffee cup out of the cabinet and filled it with apple juice. She handed the plate and cup to Leah.

"I am going to go get Beth ready for bed. Tell Rachel that I will be in to talk to her as soon as I get Beth settled. And, Leah..."

"Yes?"

"Please do not upset her. I know that you and she clash at times despite how much she loves her Aunt Leah. She is already upset. Let her talk to you if she wants, but don't criticize her choices or her actions. Not tonight. She may talk to you if you will listen."

"I won't. Go on and talk to Beth. She has been a bit worried since you left her at the house. She is worried that she is in trouble for talking to strangers." Leah said.

"And she is. She knows better than that. She should have gone to Rachel as soon as he approached her." Shelby said, heading for the stairs to chastise her youngest and then put her into bed.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel was lying in the middle of her mother's bed. As mad she was at Shelby, this was Rachel's favorite place in the entire world. Her mother's bed was a place where everything was so simple.

Rachel had come into the room and unmade the bed, pulling the comforter, blanket, and sheet off the bed and creating a nest in the middle. Rachel then crawled into the middle of the nest she had created, kicking her shoes and pants off so that she would be comfortable. Rachel really did hate wearing pants when she didn't have too unless she was in her pink pajamas bottoms with the stars on them. She had already changed out of the shirt she had on when she had gotten home into one of her mother's.

Not twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door and Rachel looked up. She expected it to be her mom, except she knew that Shelby probably would not have knocked, as it was her room.

Not ten seconds later, Leah walked into the room with Rachel's favorite mug in her hand and a plate of something resting on her forearm.

"Your mom sent me up here with something for you to eat." Leah said, trying not to smile at her niece's nest. Rachel had been doing that to blankets since she was small. In some ways, it reminded Leah that Rachel was still a child, and she had a feeling that Shelby would think the same thing.

Leah handed the plate to Rachel, watching the girl do her best not to smile at the sandwich on the plate. Leah sat on the edge of the bed and held onto the mug while Rachel ate the sandwich. It was silent in the room while she was eating, and as soon as she was finished the sandwich, she traded the plate for the mug and drank the juice in the cup down.

"Mom is really mad isn't she? She doesn't get it. Did you know that she didn't want me?" Rachel asked Leah, finally looking up into the eyes of her aunt.

The tears glistening in Rachel's eyes surprised Leah. So did the hurt in Rachel's voice. Leah had honestly thought that Rachel would be defiant, that much of what she had said to her mother had been to hurt Shelby. But the girl in front of her was just as hurt as Shelby was.

"She has always wanted you, Rach." Leah said softly.

Rachel shook her head.

"No. I know that she was going to give me away. She didn't want me to know, but I know now. My Mom didn't want me. Why did she want Beth but not me, Aunt Leah?"

A cry caught in Leah's throat. Rachel really, genuinely thought that she was unwanted.

"Rach, baby, your mama wanted you _so_ much. So much more than you will ever realize. Can I tell you a secret, Rachie? Something you have to promise not to tell your mom that I told you?"

Rachel nodded as a tear fell down her face. Leah leaned over and, with her thumb, wiped the tear away.

"Your mom was never going to let them have you. She said that she was, she had thought that being a surrogate was going to be easy, but the day she heard your little heartbeat…Rachie, she fell in love. I was with her that day. And the moment your heartbeat came over the monitor, something changed. I could see it in her face. She will never say this, but I think that her love for you is one of the reasons that she waited so long to get to the hospital. She was afraid that she wouldn't have a choice once you were born. But she always had a choice. And, maybe something…greater, helped things along. Because, I can tell you, Rachel Barbra, your mom loves you so very, very much. _Never_ doubt that."

"Why did she hide it from me then? Why?" Rachel cried.

Leah thought for a moment because, honestly, she did not know. But, she had a feeling.

"I think, Rach, that your mom was afraid of telling you. She never wanted you to know that she had planned on giving you up. She didn't want you to think for a second the thoughts you are thinking now."

Rachel sighed and snuggled down into the blankets that were surrounding her and simply thought.

"I have been so angry. I can't erase my anger." Rachel whispered as someone knocked on the door. Rachel looked up as Shelby walked into the room. Her face was unreadable, which made Rachel rather nervous.

"Leah, thank you for bringing Beth here, and for bringing Rachel her supper. Are you staying for a while, or do you want to talk tomorrow?" Shelby asked, hinting to her sister that she was ready to talk to Rachel.

"I will see myself out, and I will talk to you tomorrow." Leah said, standing up, planting a quick kiss to Rachel's head and then hugging her sister as she walked out the door.

There were several moments of silence, until Shelby heard the front door shut.

Shelby walked over to the head of the bed and sat down, leaning her tired body against the backboard of the bed. Rachel watched her apprehensively.

The longer Shelby was silent, the more nervous Rachel became.

"Mama…"

Shelby took a deep breath with her eyes closed, and then slowly opened them to look at Rachel.

"Rachel, I expected…no I expect, better from you."

Rachel swallowed but said nothing. She had a feeling that this was not an instance where she would be permitted to say anything anyways. She had had her say in front of the house when they got home, and now it was her mom's turn. Rachel knew that.

"Rachel, I do not know what happened today, I do not know where the lines became crossed. I do not know where you got it into your head that you were or are unwanted, or where you got the idea that you could talk to me as you have, but it all stops now."

Shelby looked into Rachel's eyes. She could tell that Rachel wanted to say something so she gave her a moment to think about what and how she wanted to say it.

"I do feel unwanted but I don't know why." Rachel whispered, pulling the blankets tight around her as if protecting herself from the information she was afraid was true.

"You are not unwanted, Rachel. I wanted you more than life itself. Do you understand me, Rachel Barbra Corcoran? You are my life. You and Beth. As long as I have the two of you, I have everything that I will ever need."

Tears dripped off of Rachel's face as a soft, "Okay," left her lips.

"Rachel, there has to be a punishment for what you did today. I was willing to let you running off go because you left me a note and you did go where you said you were going. But then you left there and went somewhere else. Still, I knew that you were very upset about what happened at the park, so I was willing, once again, to let it all go because I knew that you were hurt and confused. But that text, and what you said when we got home…Rachel, that is why you are in trouble. I will not be spoken to like that. In fact, I had better never hear you speak to anyone like that again. I am very serious about this, Rachel."

Rachel sniffed, "What are you going to do to me? I am already grounded til next week. Please don't ground me longer. Mom, I am going insane having to stay in the house all the time."

Shelby looked at Rachel. "No, I am not going to ground you longer. I feel like the punishment needs to fit the crime, and in this instance, I do not think that a longer grounding is necessary."

That, to Rachel, didn't really sound promising. What type of punishment could fit the crime she had committed? She had texted the F word to her mom, said the F word in front of her, and then called her a bitch, among other bad words that had snuck into her impromptu speech…Even Rachel, in her teenage arrogance, knew that she had stepped out way too far.

"For starters, I am going to have your texting cut off tomorrow. If you want to text your friends, you will use my phone so that I know what you are texting and who you are texting. For three months. I will have your texting turned back on in three months if you can earn that right. I am also going to wash your mouth out with soap. Which is going to happen now. So come on. Let's go to the bathroom." Shelby said, standing up. She could tell that Rachel didn't want this to happen, but it was better than being grounded for weeks on end. She could also tell that the fact she would not be able to text with her own phone had not yet sunk into the fourteen year olds head.

Shelby held her hand out to Rachel and slowly, Rachel took it. She stood up and let her mother lead her into the bathroom. Rachel was directed to sit on the toilet lid and watched Shelby.

Shelby was squatting down under the right sink cabinet and pulled out a wrapped bar of soap. She unwrapped it and then walked over to Rachel.

"Open. Six minutes. Two minutes each for the use of the F word, one for saying ass, and one for calling me a bitch. This will be the only time that I will be this easy on you if this happens again." Shelby said as she stuck the bar of white soap into her daughter's open mouth.

Almost immediately, Rachel's senses were overtaken by the scent and pungent taste of ivory. Her eyes began to water soon after. She was never going to want to bath with this horrible smelling and tasting soap again.

"There are a lot of things that I can take from you, Rachel, but recently your behavior…it has had me stumped to say the least. You are acting out all the time. You have never let the harsh words you have taken to using leave your lips, yet recently that is all I hear. Like I said, after what happened in the park, I would have let you running off go this once. But you escalated it. You did that, Rach, not me, not anyone but you. I understand that maybe I should have told you more about your birth, Rachel, but honestly, I didn't think that it was important. You are where you belong. With me. You were never unwanted. Quite the contrary, everyone wanted you. Everyone. Not everyone, Rachel, is as lucky as you were. Someone was always going to love you. Always. I think, even now, that it would have always been me."

Tears dripped down Rachel's face steadily now. Her nose was running and she ran the back of her hand over her it.

Shelby went to the towel closet and grabbed a washcloth, wetting it and bringing it to Rachel, gently wiping her nose and face around the bar of soap that was sitting in her mouth and then cleaning off her hand.

"This may be a hard lesson for you to learn, Rach, but you will learn it. I thought that maybe, just maybe, you had learned something over the last six weeks, but I am not so sure. I want you to start thinking about your actions. If your behavior continues, Rach, not only are you letting me down, you are letting yourself down. You are so much better than this."

Shelby looked at the clock and noticed that the six minutes were up. She took the bar of soap out of Rachel's mouth and then went to the sink and filled a disposable bathroom cup with water.

"Rinse."

Rachel rinsed her mouth out several times, and then stood there, staring up at her mom.

Shelby looked at her daughter. Rachel stood there in a t-shirt that had come out of Shelby's drawers at some point during Rachel's containment in her mother's room. She still didn't have any pants on. It made the girl look even younger than she was. More vulnerable. Helpless even.

Shelby went over to Rachel and looked her in the eyes.

"I know that you don't get this now, Rach, but one day you will. This behavior will stop." Shelby said as she grabbed Rachel's arm and pulled her to her side and then landed five quick swats to Rachel's backside.

Rachel hadn't expected it, so it caught her by surprise. By the time she tried to cover her backside, Shelby was already finished.

"Is there anything that you want to talk about, Rach?"

Rachel gently rubbed the stinging spots on her butt and looked up at Shelby.

"I can't lie and say that I am still not hurt that you didn't tell me about those men. But I will try to behave, Mama. I promise." Rachel said through yet another batch of tears.

Shelby pulled Rachel to her and wrapped her arms around her, "That is all I ask, Rachel. That is all I ask." Shelby placed a kiss on top of Rachel's head and simply held her.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Later that night, Rachel lay in bed, wide awake despite the fact that she was physically and mentally exhausted. She believed her mom when she said that she was wanted, but there was still something nagging at the back of her mind. She just couldn't quite figure it out. She was thankful that it was a Friday and she could sleep in the next morning.

That feeling of…being lost. That was what it was. Rachel felt lost. And she wasn't sure how to explain that to her mother. She wasn't sure how to explain to her mother that she still felt insecure and like a loser. She felt stupid because she kept getting into trouble as well.

Rachel just wanted to be accepted. She looked forward to the next Wednesday when she was no longer grounded. Maybe if she and Finn stepped it up a bit, maybe…just maybe the rest of the school would stop treating her with slushie facials all the time.

Because, no matter what those other people thought, being more or less told you were a loser all the time really hurt. And the only person who Rachel knew could make it stop was her mom.

But her mom shouldn't have to know that her daughter was a loser. It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair at all.

* * *

**AN: So, Rach is still all in her feelings, poor girl. This chapter actually has me really nervous. It was a bit harder to write. **

**I'd like to tell all of my reviewers thank you for the amazing reviews! You guys seriously make me want to write even faster! I want to thank my readers in general as well: I hope that everyone is enjoying this story.**

**Up Next: Ugh...I am not exactly sure, but almost and I don't want to give it away lol. **

**Thanks again! If anyone has any questions, advice, comments, or something that they would like to see (if it fits with the story line) let me know and I will do my best:)**


	7. Sick Kid

**Chapter Seven: Sick Kid**

Rachel woke up near midnight after only a restless hour of sleep. Her head was pounding and her stomach was hurting. She stood up and grabbed her blanket and duck, and trailed into her mother's room. She didn't feel good and she wanted her mom. Her mom would make her feel better in the morning, but right now she would feel better if she could just lay beside Shelby.

Rachel crawled into the bed beside her mother and snuggled close to her. Shelby unconsciously rolled over and put her arm around Rachel, pulling the girl closer to her. Shelby never woke up, probably because it was not abnormal for one of the kids to crawl in bed with her in the middle of the night. If it stormed, she would have both of them. But those nights, Shelby didn't get much sleep because both girls were terrified of lightening and were not easy to get to sleep once it woke them up.

Rachel wrapped her hand in Shelby's shirt and pulled it close to her. In her sleep, Shelby pulled her shirt down, but then pulled Rachel closer to her.

Rachel fell into an uneasy sleep.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby woke up to the sound of someone vomiting somewhere in the house. After fourteen and a half years, it was a sound that almost automatically woke her up no matter where it was coming from in the house. It was also a sound that warned her to watch where she walked because her children did not always make it to the bathroom on time. Oftentimes they didn't. She sat up and noticed Rachel's favorite fuzzy blanket and her duck in the bed and knew that it must be Rachel who was sick.

Shelby listened as she walked so that she could see where the retching was coming from. She opened the door to the girls' bathroom and was greeted with a vomiting child. Rachel was hung over the toilet, her entire body was sweaty, and her hair was matted.

"Oh, Baby." Shelby said, rushing over to her daughter and kneeling beside her as she began vomiting again.

Shelby placed her hand on Rachel's head and felt that she was burning up.

"Baby, did you make it to the toilet or do I need to clean up anything?" Shelby asked so she could go and clean it up quickly before Beth woke up and stepped in it or it set into the carpet and was hard to clean up later.

"I made it." Rachel whimpered, right before she started throwing up again.

Shelby grimaced. There was no way that her child had much left in her stomach because all she had eaten for supper had been the sandwich Shelby had made. She knew that soon Rachel would have the dry heaves, but that would be just as bad.

She stood up and went to the towel cabinet and pulled out a wash cloth. She wet the cloth with cold water and then gently washed her daughter's face.

"Baby, can you sit up and let me get your hair out of your way?"

Rachel slowly pushed her body back away from the toilet and closed her eyes, her arms trembling as she did so. Shelby quickly but gently put her hair into a messy pony tail so that it would be up off of her neck and out of her face.

"Do you think that I can take your temperature?" Shelby asked, gently rubbing Rachel's back.

Rachel nodded her head and then leaned back over the toilet to throw up again.

Shelby stood up and went to her bathroom to grab the thermometer. She grabbed two, one a thermometer that she had used when Beth was small and Shelby only had to rub it across Rachel's head, and the other an oral thermometer. Shelby didn't really like the one that was simply run across the forehead because it was not always accurate, but if she was not able use the oral thermometer, despite it only needing thirty seconds to finish, she would have to rely on the other.

Shelby sat on the floor beside Rachel and looked at her daughter. The child was drenched in sweat, but was still so hot. It was almost as if her fever had broken and then started again, but Shelby knew that she was probably sweating from exertion. She had been vomiting for a while now it looked like.

"Come here, baby, let's see if you can keep this in your mouth for a bit."

Rachel simply leaned into her mother and opened her mouth. Almost immediately, she had to sit back up and throw up in the toilet again.

Shelby sighed and then got to her knees and ran the other thermometer over Rachel's forehead.

It beeped and she looked at the number and cursed under her breath. 103.1. Normally the thermometer was a little under the actual temp, so that worried her even more. She looked at the clock that was on the bathroom wall and cursed again. It was only two in the morning.

Shelby stood up and went into her bathroom and began running cool water. It wasn't hot, but neither was it cold. Hopefully it would bring down the girl's temperature, and she would go ahead and give Rachel something for her fever.

Shelby went back into the bathroom and helped Rachel, who was not throwing up at the moment, into a standing position. She practically had to carry her daughter to the other bathroom and then she sat her on the top of counter by the sink where the girl often sat when she was talking to Shelby why the woman showered.

"Mama, I am fixing to be sick!" Rachel whimpered. Just in time, Shelby had a waste basket in front of Rachel. Soon enough, Rachel leaned against the mirror, her whole body screaming exhaustion. Shelby bent down and removed her socks, and then helped her lean forward to remove her t-shirt. Slowly, Shelby had Rachel undressed and was easing her into the tub.

"Mama, it is so cold." Rachel shivered. Rachel wrapped her arms around her body and tried to keep from shivering. Soon she started gagging again, so Shelby thrust the waste basket in front of her again just in time, half of the basket submerged in the water as Rachel threw up yet again.

Shelby managed to coax Rachel into staying in the water for nearly ten minutes, through dry heaves and shivers. She had tried to give Rachel something to get rid of her fever, but Rachel had simply thrown it right back up. Shelby got a towel that was close and helped Rachel stand up and quickly wrapped it around her thin, shivering frame. It was a testament to just how sick Rachel was that she didn't care that she was not wearing any clothes. While she didn't really care if Shelby saw her naked since the woman was her mother, she didn't just flaunt about naked either. This was totally different. She didn't care; all she knew was that she wanted her mom to make her feel better.

Shelby half carried Rachel towards the bed in Shelby's room, laid her down and pulled the thermometer over to her where she had thrown it on the bed earlier. She ran it over Rachel's head and read the numbers. 103.9.

"Okay, baby, I am going to help you get dressed, but then I am taking you to the Emergency Room. Your temperature is way too high. Lay right here while I get you some clothes."

Rachel didn't say anything.

In no time, Shelby had Rachel dressed in her favorite pair of pajamas, the pink ones with the golden stars, and a shirt that Shelby pulled out of her own drawers, knowing that the smell of her clothes soothed Rachel.

With a wastebasket and a blanket, Shelby took Rachel out to the car and buckled her in.

"I'll be back in two minutes. I am not going to wake Beth, I am just going to bring her."

Shelby ran back into the house and, throwing Beth's favorite blanket over her shoulder, picked up the little girl and made her way downstairs, grabbing her purse and then heading to the car.

Within minutes, they were headed to the nearest hospital.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby was tired. She didn't know the last time she had been this exhausted. Right now, at nine in the morning, she was sitting beside Rachel who was finally sleeping and getting an IV drip to feign off dehydration and to get some necessary medication that she was still not able to keep down. The only reason she wasn't throwing up at the moment was because the doctor had given her something to in the IV to sleep and sooth her stomach. And the fact that there was literally nothing left in her stomach.

In the corner, on a small fold out chair, Beth was finally sleeping after two hours of whining. Hospitals for some reason terrified the little girl, and Shelby had no idea why except perhaps the little girl remembered when she had hit her head and had to get stitches when she was two. Other than that Beth had not been in the hospital. Rachel was usually the one that ended up in the ER for one thing or another. Beth had begged for Shelby to take her home, but Shelby couldn't leave Rachel. Now that it was nine o'clock in the morning, she was going to call Leah and see if she would come and get her. If she couldn't get a hold of Leah, she would call Judy or Selene Garcia. Anything to get Beth out of a place that terrified her. It would be at least noon before Rachel got to leave the ER, and Shelby didn't want Beth to have to hang around, bored, all that time.

Rubbing her face with both of her hands, she stretched and then reached into her purse for Rachel's phone. Somehow she had grabbed Rachel's and not her own, when she had rushed out of the house.

Shelby dialed the familiar number of her sister and let it ring as she sat back in her chair and closed her eyes.

"_Hello, Rach? Sweetie what's up? This is kind of early for you to be calling me on a Saturday. Elijah and James are not even up right now."_

"Hey, LeeLee. It's Shel. I had to bring Rachel to the Emergency Room last night. She had a 104 fever when we got here and was dehydrated. She still hasn't been keeping anything down. She has the flu. The doctor said she would be out of school for at least a week. I need you to come get Beth though. We have been here since before three this morning."

"_Shel! Why didn't you call me last night? There was no reason for you to have to go through all of that by yourself! I could have gotten up and came and got Beth at least!"_

Shelby sighed and rubbed her face again, this time only with her free hand.

"I know, LeeLee. It was just crazy. And it isn't the first time that I have had to rush one of them to the Emergency Room. This time was just different. It wasn't a broken bone or a cut that needed stitches. Rachel could barely walk by herself, and I had Beth and Beth was crying about having to go to the hospital." Shelby quickly wiped away the tear that was falling down her face. She was so tired.

On the other line, Leah was quiet. She knew her sister well, and she could tell that she was trying not to cry.

"_You have rarely had to take them both with you. Only when Beth had to have stitches and at least Rachel was old enough to sit still. Well, no worries, I will be there in twenty minutes if not sooner."_

Nothing else was said. Both women hung up their phones, one looked over at her sick child and sighed, and the other jumped out of bed to rush to the hospital, trying not to disturb her husband before she had too.

"Mama…" Rachel whispered, turning over in the hospital bed that she was in so that she could find her mother.

"I am right here, baby."

"I wanna go home." Rachel cried. She wanted to go to her house and lay in her bed or her mom's bed. She did not want to be here.

"Your IV has to run through and then they are probably going to let you go home. It depends on your fever and whether you are still dehydrated. You haven't kept anything down yet, not even medicine. You have a bad case of the flu. Aunt Leah is coming to get Beth so that she doesn't have to hang out here."

"Okay. Will you come lay with me?" Rachel whispered. Shelby looked at the small bed, but stood up anyways. It wasn't going to be comfortable on her part, but it would comfort Rachel.

Shelby helped Rachel scoot over, and then crawled in beside her, lying on her side so that Rachel could lean against her. Rachel turned on her left side so that she could shove her face into her mom's neck.

"I really don't feel good, Mama." She mumbled.

"I know, baby. We are going to get you better." Shelby said, running her hand through Rachel's disheveled hair, feeling the heat that was still radiating from Rachel.

Twenty-five minutes later, Leah walked into the curtained off area of the ER and looked at her sister and nieces. They were all sleeping so Leah went and sat in the vacated chair to the right of the curtained room.

She knew that Rachel was sick. She would have known without being told because the child looked ill, even in sleep. Her face was flushed and her hair was a mess. Normally, Rachel would not leave the house unless her hair was perfect.

Shelby woke up and felt another presence in the room and looked behind her.

"Hey, Leah. How long have you been here?"

"Not long. I didn't want to wake you while you were getting a bit of sleep."

"Thanks. Thankfully the girls went to bed easily last night so I was able to get some sleep before I heard her throwing up in the bathroom. Her fever was really high."

"It's just the flu?" Leah asked, concerned. Rachel wasn't one to get sick often. Normally, her trips to the doctor or the ER were because, while she was a graceful dancer, she liked to run in the house or jump off of steps. Because of that, she had broken her arm once when she was younger and had had stitches in various places eight times. The most memorable for Leah was when Rachel had decided to use the dining room table as a stage to perform a song from Annie. She had been only wearing socks and she had run from one end of the table to the other and slipped, knocking herself in the head on her way down. In the ER she had cried for nearly an hour saying that she never wanted to see that stupid table again. Rachel had been seven, and the trip had resulted in ten stitches. The tiny scar could still be seen if you knew where to look for it.

"Yes, it is the flu. They said that they have been seeing a lot of it. It sticks around only for a day or two if caught soon enough. The doctor told me that a lot of her patients were coming in a day or two after they start throwing up and are severely dehydrated. She was close to being dehydrated but she got here soon enough that hopefully the flu won't stick around for long."

"How long has Bethie been sleeping?" Leah asked. Shelby looked down at the watch that was on her wrist.

"About two and half hours. She freaked out when we got here, but I am not sure if it was because she actually doesn't like the hospital or if it was because Rachel was so sick. She was dry heaving by the time we got here. There is nothing left in her stomach. Beth was crying, Rachel was crying. It took all I had not to cry right along with them. One of the RN's on call did take Beth over to the main desk and let her eat some pudding to calm her down right after they took Rachel back, but I am sure that she is going to be starving when she wakes up."

"I will take her and feed her. No worries there."

"I am not worried now that you are here. I just didn't want her to be here all day. It's not fair to expect a five year old to hang out in a hospital all day. You can go by the house and get her a change of clothes. She needs a bath. I didn't make her take a bath last night because of everything else that was going on. She is not allowed to watch television today though. That is her punishment for talking to a stranger."

"Shelby, Sister, I can take care of her. It isn't the first time. I know that you are just tired right now, but don't worry so much. She can stay with me tonight if you guys get to go home today, or she and I can come and stay with you. Let's play touch and go and see what happens."

"Okay. Thank you so much, LeeLee." Shelby said.

Less than half an hour later, Beth and Leah were gone and Rachel was still sleeping. Shelby, who had gotten up to wake Beth, slid back onto the hospital bed with her eldest daughter so that she could catch a few more minutes of sleep.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel didn't get to go home until Sunday morning. They had moved the girl into a room for the night to keep an eye on her, and then let her go before eleven on Sunday. She was still having trouble keeping anything down, but she had kept down some juice a couple hours before she was released.

At home, Leah and Beth, along with Quinn and Judy, were waiting on them. Leah and Judy had cleaned up the house while Quinn played with Beth so that Shelby wouldn't have to worry about it. Leah planned on running to the pharmacy for her sister and buying any groceries that they needed so that they would be set for the rest of the week. When Shelby had called Leah earlier that morning, she had told her that the doctor had told her to keep Rachel out of school at least until Thursday, if not the rest of the week. Depending on how the week went would depend on when Rachel went back to school. At the moment, however, Rachel had no desire to go to school or anywhere else for that matter.

Getting Rachel settled on the couch once they got home, where she fell asleep almost immediately, Shelby walked into the kitchen where Judy and Leah were sitting. Shelby sat down and sighed. She felt like it had been ages since she had simply stopped moving.

"How are you, Shel?" Judy asked sympathetically, patting Shelby's hand.

Shelby looked up at her and smiled, "Really tired."

"I am going to run to the pharmacy and grocery store for you, Shel. If you will make a list I will get everything that you need." Leah told her. Shelby nodded and stood up to grab her purse from the counter. She pulled out several small pieces of paper and flattened them out as she looked at them.

"These are Rachel's prescriptions. One is an antibiotic. Two are for phenergan, one in tablet and the other in suppositories. Hopefully she will be able to keep the tablets down so that I do not have to use the other. I am positive that will not go over well with her at all." Shelby said quietly and a bit discouraged at the mere thought of having to even have that particular battle. She didn't even want to take the chance that Rachel would overhear her talking about the alternative medication she would have to take if she couldn't keep anything down. It was a battle that Shelby did not want to fight unless she absolutely had too. It was one that she knew she would win because Rachel knew how her mother was when it came to medication and getting well, but that was definitely beside the point. It would devastate Rachel and her teenage pride.

"Yea, that will go over well." Leah laughed. Shelby shot her a glare. At the moment, Shelby didn't find it funny in the least. Her look made Leah stop laughing almost immediately.

"Anyways, there is also a cough medicine because they said that a cough was common after the first few days. If you would also pick up some Tylenol and Ibuprofen as well. They said that I can alternate those two for fever. As for groceries, I don't think that we need anything. I just bought some Thursday after school. I guess you could pick up some juice. Apple is her favorite and is gentle on her stomach."

"Okay, well, I will get that done. If you think of anything else, text me."

Shelby nodded and watched as her sister walked out of the door.

"Are you hungry?" Judy asked. Shelby looked up at her, but before she could answer, her stomach growled. Both women laughed gently with one another.

"I suppose that answers that question. Well, Quinnie is lying down with Beth, so why don't you go lie down for a moment and I will cook something to eat for everyone. I will cook a mild broth for Rachel and maybe she will be able to keep it down. If you want to lie in your own bed for a bit, I will keep an eye on Rachel."

"Normally, I would have to say that it is okay and you can go home…but I do believe that today I will take you up on that, Judy. I haven't really slept since I took Rachel in yesterday morning, and a few minutes sleep would be fantastic."

"Then shoo! Get out of the kitchen!"

Shelby merely smiled and did as she was told.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel felt horrible. She didn't feel quite as bad as she did when her mom had rushed her to the hospital, but she was still having trouble keeping anything down. Keeping the apple juice down earlier had been hard, but she knew that if she had thrown it up, that she might not get to go home.

Stretching, and then finally opening her eyes, Rachel noticed Quinn sitting in a chair nearby, playing with her phone.

"Hey." Rachel croaked.

"Hey! How are you feeling?"

"Ugh, like shit." Rachel said.

"Did I not just wash your mouth out with soap last night?" a whisper in her ear came. Rachel jerked and looked up at her mom.

"Sorry. But I do."

"I know, baby. But watch the mouth. Aunt Judy made you a light soup. Why don't you see if you can keep it down. Aunt Leah also picked up your medicine so you can take the pill that will keep your stomach calm."

"Okay, Mama." Rachel said. She sat up and then, grabbing onto Shelby's arm, she stood up and leaned into her mother. She really did feel like shit.

Slowly, the two of them made it to the kitchen and sat at the table.

Judy put a steaming bowl of broth in front of Rachel, and the smell alone made her gag. It looked good, and Rachel knew from experience that it was, but it was not about to happen.

"Mama, can I just take that pill and go to my room and lay down?" Rachel asked. Shelby nodded and got up to pour Rachel a glass of juice and handed her a pill. Rachel took it, taking the smallest sip possible, and then stood up shakily.

"I will help you up the stairs."

"Mama, can Quinn help me?"

Shelby looked at the two girls and slowly nodded.

"But, Quinn, don't stay up there too long. I don't want you to catch what Rachel has." Shelby said, not mentioning the fact that the doctor had said that what Rachel had was only contagious the first twenty-four hours. She wanted Rachel to get some sleep and if Quinn was up there, that would not happen.

Both teens nodded, and then together made their way up the stairs and into Rachel's room where Rachel collapsed on the bed, nearly out of breath.

"Are you okay, Rach?" Quinn asked.

"Yea. Can I use your phone to text Finn? I just want to let him know that I won't be at school this week and that I won't get to text him. Mom is having my texting turned off for what happened on Friday." Rachel said quietly.

"She is cutting it off for you going to Kurt's? What the hell, Rach?" Quinn said, handing her phone over.

"Um, no…not exactly." Rachel said, looking at Quinn's phone so that she wouldn't have to look at Quinn.

"Rach, what did you do? Everything was kinda fine when you came over to the house and then back to Kurt's."

"Yea, well, she texted me to tell me to come home and I texted her a simply, um, 'f you' back except I might have spelled the word out. And then she was waiting in Kurt's bedroom when I climbed back through the window."

Quinn gasped. She was honestly surprised. Even a few months ago, Rachel wouldn't have even thought of saying something like that to her mom. Rachel was the best behaved person that Quinn had ever met. Rachel was hardly ever in trouble. But recently…well, it was like Rachel didn't even care anymore.

"You didn't!"

"I did. So, she is cutting my texting off. Tomorrow probably. I knew that moment that I sent it that I shouldn't have."

"Was she angry?" Quinn asked.

Rachel looked at Quinn.

"Yea. She was angry."

"Well, at least she didn't take your phone away from you completely. You will be able to call him."

"I can still text from Mom's phone. But I mean, that really only means that I can text you or Kurt because she said that she would be reading them if she felt like it."

"Thanks for the warning. Could you imagine if I would have said something about Finn or Puck? Then Aunt Shel would tell Mom and then we would both be murdered."

Both girls laughed.

"So, how long are you going to be out of school?" Quinn asked Rachel.

"Hopefully only until Thursday. The doctor said that Friday was the soonest that I could go back."

"Well, good, because you know we have Sectionals coming up, and what are we going to do without you?" Quinn said, a smirk on her face.

"Lose of course." Rachel said, laughing. It was no secret that Rachel knew her voice was the best when she put her mind to it. She had been practicing with her mother for years. Only, now that she was in Glee, and Glee was such a joke, she wasn't quite as serious about it as she had once thought she would be. It didn't help that the Glee kids, minus those who were Cheerios or football players, were getting slushied more and more.

Suddenly, Rachel's hand flew to her mouth and she jumped up as quickly as she could to head to the bathroom she shared with Beth. Quinn followed her in there, watching as she dry heaved over the toilet, though, thankfully, she wasn't actually throwing up.

"I'll go get Aunt Shel." Quinn said, heading out of the bathroom and down the stairs.

Rachel leaned her head on her forearm, and made a mental note not to laugh for the next couple of days if this was going to happen everytime that she did so.

* * *

**AN: Hiya! So, this is not the chapter that I was going to write next, but I felt that it fit better and gave a tiny bit of downtime between this and what is going to happen soon. I also meant to say this last chapter, but I am not even 50% positive that medically speaking I know what the crap I am talking about...lol...In fact, concerning Shelby's dilemma last chapter, I may have had things backwards, though I dont think I do. Just remember, it is fanfiction:) **

**Also, I am not one to write tons of just fluff, but if anyone wants to see it, let me know. I might be able to entice myself to write a chapter that is more bonding between various characters instead of the constant angst, despite what is going on in their lives right now. lol. **


	8. Bad Day

**Chapter Eight: Bad Day**

"_Cause you had a bad day, you're taking one down_

_You sing a sad song just to turn it around_

_You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie_

_You work on a smile and you go for a ride_

_You had a bad day, the camera don't lie_

_You're coming back down and you really don't mind_

_You had a bad day, you had a bad day…"—Daniel Powter, Bad Day_

Sunday night was long for Shelby. She had just thought she had been exhausted on Saturday morning after spending all of that morning in the ER with two upset children, one of them very sick. Beth was clingy because she really hadn't seen her mother all weekend and Rachel, who still not holding anything down, was always clingy when she didn't feel well.

Shelby had started to call Leah and ask her to come get Beth, but she knew that Beth would not have gone for that. She wasn't used to spending more than a day at a time away from her mother, and Shelby knew that Beth would not sleep well away from home another night.

Rachel was lying in Shelby's bed, a wastebasket on the side and the television on low. She was sleeping on and off, but she had wanted to watch a little television. Besides the living room, Shelby's room was the only room with a television in it, and Rachel had wanted to lie in there anyways because the bed was close to Shelby's bathroom. In the end, after listening to her daughter vomit for the sixth time after trying to get her to drink some water, she had put a wastebasket beside the bed.

Thankfully, Rachel's fever had remained low, never going above 101.1. But, by the time that Rachel had thrown up the ice chips that Shelby had given her at two in the morning, Shelby had nearly had enough. She hated seeing her daughter so ill, and knew that if she didn't do something soon, Rachel was going to be severely dehydrated.

"Rach, baby, I am going to give you a phenergan pill one more time to see if you can keep it down, but if you can't then we are going to have to do something else. This is not okay. You are going to be dehydrated." Shelby told her softly. Rachel's head was lying in her lap and Shelby was running her fingers through her hair.

"Can I take a bath?" Rachel asked. She felt like that would make her feel better. She hadn't had a bath since the impromptu bath to cool her down. She felt dirty and she wanted to wash her hair. Or have her mother wash her hair. That would be even better.

"Do you think you can keep down this pill? Maybe if I give it to you now and you take a bath you will be able to keep it down because your mind will be off of your stomach." Shelby suggested.

"Will you wash my hair? Like you used to when I was little?" Rachel asked. She used to love it when her mother would wash her hair for her. Her mother's fingers expertly massaging her scalp and making her feel as if she was in heaven.

"Yes, baby. I will wash your hair." Shelby said, gently taking Rachel's head out of her lap and placing it on a pillow so that she could go grab some water and the phenergan pill out of the bathroom medicine cabinet where she had placed it for the night. If Rachel could keep it down for thirty minutes, then she would be able to take some of her other medicine.

"What is something else, Mama?" Rachel asked groggily. She was so worn out.

Shelby froze and looked back at her daughter.

"If you can keep this down, you won't have to worry about it."

"Mom." Rachel said, slowly sitting up and looking at the woman. Shelby looked back at her…perhaps if she told Rachel, then the girl would be enticed to keep the pill down no matter what.

"They also sent the phenergan in suppository form, Love. Just in case you can't keep the pill down, I will have to use one of those. They are in the fridge downstairs, I can go get one if you think that you won't be able to keep the pill down." Shelby said, using a tactic on Rachel that she should have hours before had she really and truly thought about it.

Rachel's eyes grew. What? Was her mother serious? Yes. She was. Shelby didn't joke about stuff like that.

"Hell no. I will keep it down!" Rachel blurted out before she even thought about what she was saying.

"Watch your mouth, Rach. You are sick, but you won't be forever and that is the second time that I have had to warn you today."

"Sorry. But Mama, no…I don't want you to have to do that. I don't like it!" Rachel said, working herself up.

"Calm down. I just told you that the only reason that we would have to do that is if you can't keep this next pill down. Now here." Shelby said, handing the tiny pill to her daughter and a disposable bathroom cup full of water to her as well.

Rachel tentatively took the pill and with a tiny sip of water swallowed it. She held her breath for several seconds and then looked up at her mother. She knew that it was like only a little past two in the morning, but she really wanted to feel clean.

"Can you help me now? Can I take a bath?" Rachel whispered. Shelby nodded and went to help Rachel towards the bathroom. Her baby girl was so weak that it was distressing. Slowly, she sat Rachel on the toilet lid and started to run bathwater while Rachel undressed and wrapped a towel around herself.

"Come on, Baby." Shelby said, running her hand through the warm water once more to make sure that it was neither too hot nor too cold.

Together the two made it over to the tub and Rachel climbed in, putting her back to her mother so that Shelby would wash her hair.

For several minutes, Rachel felt relaxed, more relaxed in several days as Shelby massaged her head. Shelby soon rinsed out the soap with a cup that she often used to rinse out Beth's hair if the little girl bathed in her bathroom. Soon Shelby ran conditioner through Rachel's hair, a must in the girl's long brown locks if one wanted to brush through it anytime soon after it was washed, and then rinsed again.

"Okay, Rach, wash yourself while I run into your room and get you some pajamas." Shelby said after about ten minutes worth of washing her daughter's hair. Rachel nodded and took the wash cloth her mom handed her and, bypassing the ivory soap that say on the edge of the tub, grabbed some of her mom's peach body scrub and began to wash off.

Fifteen minutes later, Rachel was lying down, snuggled against her mother, thankful that, so far, she had kept that stupid pill down. She could feel it taking effect quickly, and she was growing tired.

"Take these, Love." Shelby said, reaching beside her to grab the rest of Rachel's pill from the bedside table. Rachel quickly took them, lying back down beside her mom.

"I love you, Mama." Rachel said, her face crushed into Shelby's side, clutching her shirt. Shelby patted Rachel's back.

"I love you, too, baby."

Soon, they were both fast asleep.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

By Wednesday, Rachel was finally feeling better. It had taken several days, but the constant attention and care from Shelby had her nearly back to perfect health. Despite the past two months or so, Rachel was actually quite glad to have her mother's undivided attention during the day. She had missed the moments when she wasn't angry at the older woman because they had been so few and far in between over the last months. Rachel was used to telling her mother everything, and the fact that she no longer was, was really starting to wear on Rachel's conscious. Rachel had still not told her mother that she knew about the documents pertaining to her birth in her mother's desk drawer or the slushies at school, but Rachel was trying not to even think about it.

It took Rachel three days to realize how much she missed texting on her own phone. She couldn't text Finn on her mother's phone, so she would wait until after her mother went to bed and then call him since there was no restriction on calling anyone. Rachel wasn't sure if she had found a loophole or if her mother just hadn't thought about it. She didn't care. She wanted to talk to Finn, especially since she hadn't been in school and couldn't go anywhere for being ill. She also was pretty sure that her mother knew that there was something between her and Finn. At times, she wished that she could talk to her mother about him, especially since he had seemed off the last two times she had talked to him, but she knew that she couldn't tell her mom about it.

She would text both Quinn and Kurt from her Mom's phone, but she had been quick to tell them that her mom might check the messages so that they would watch what they said. Quinn had already known that, but she wanted to tell Kurt all the same. The most he asked was if 'Auntie Shel' was still angry with him. Rachel wasn't really sure, but she knew that once her mom saw that text, she would talk to Kurt and Rachel told Kurt so. That had made him even more nervous.

By Thursday, Rachel had discovered an app that she could download on her phone so that she could text. It was free and she figured that it was one way to pull the wool over her mother's eyes so to speak, as long as she continued to text her friends some from Shelby's phone during the day, she figured she could text Finn at night. But, again, the boy was acting a bit weird, so she hadn't really used it. She actually felt bad about using it anyways.

Surprisingly, though, the family of three had had a nice and quiet week beginning Monday, despite Rachel being sick. Shelby had woken up nearly every morning with Rachel in her bed, her right hand wrapped so tightly in her mom's shirt that Shelby was nearly coming out of the shirt. She knew that Rachel must have still not felt a hundred percent, else she would have stayed in her own bed.

But, other than that, everything had gone really well. She was still slightly nervous even at the idea letting the girls leave the house to even walk down the sidewalk with Leroy Berry out there somewhere, and when Rachel had asked why they couldn't on Wednesday when she was feeling like some fresh air after being in the house for so long, Shelby had taken her off to the side and told her the reason. Surprisingly, Rachel agreed. Something about Leroy Berry had really freaked Rachel out, and she wasn't sure that she ever wanted to come in contact with the man again.

Now, it was Friday and Rachel was sitting in the choir room beside Quinn waiting on Glee to start. She was physically worn out, since it was the first day she had been back, and was silently wondering if she should have listened to her mom and stayed home til Monday. She hoped that she didn't relapse, which apparently was normal according to the doctor in the ER the previous weekend. Currently, she was just putting it to the fact that she had been in bed all week and wasn't used to walking around as much as she had that day.

When Puck came in to the choir room, he took one look at Quinn and went to the other end of the room and sat down. Finn came in right afterwards, the first time that Rachel had seen him since the previous week, and took one look around the room, first at Quinn and Rachel, and then at Puck, and sat as far away from both couples as he could.

"What was that?" Rachel asked.

"We broke up." Quinn said tightly. Rachel raised her eyebrows and looked at Quinn. She'd only been gone for four days. What the hell? And she had talked to Quinn via text nearly every day. Quinn hadn't called her or anything.

"Stop with the look, Rachel. You are freaking me out. You look like Aunt Shel when she is trying to figure out if I did something wrong or not."

"Sorry. What is Finn's problem?" Rachel asked and tried to school her features. But, she really wasn't sure how. She looked like a younger version of her mother. There really wasn't a whole lot she could do about that.

"Don't know." Quinn said, as the girl really didn't know what Finn's problem was, just that he and Puck hadn't been hanging out like they usually did and both had been ignoring her like the plague since Monday.

"Well, I mean, obviously Puck wasn't worth it." Rachel said, staring down at her skirt.

"I don't want to talk about it, Rachel." Quinn snapped, and got up to walk out of the classroom. She didn't want to talk about Puck or the fact that she didn't know why he had broken up with her. He just had. And her feelings were hurt.

Rachel left her things at the desk she had been sitting in and followed Quinn.

"Quinnie! What is going on?" Rachel asked. She saw Quinn walk towards her locker and then suddenly Tess Peters walked over to the blonde haired girl and stood beside her, whispering in her ear. Rachel stopped. Tess Peters had a slushie in her hand, and Rachel wasn't dumb enough to walk over there even if Quinn was there. She knew that slushie would find its way all over her, and she had just gotten over being sick, but just barely. She didn't want to get sick again all because of a stupid cold slushie bath and she didn't want to feel like a loser today when she had to feel like one almost every other day.

Quinn looked up at Rachel, sudden flames appearing in her eyes. She turned back to Tess and grabbed the cup in her hand. Rachel watched, as if in slow motion, at the scene that unfolded in front of her.

Quinn walked over to Rachel and threw the freezing cold, blue drink in Rachel's face.

As many slushies as Rachel had had thrown at her since school started, this one hurt the most. Rachel had never felt as pained as she did in that moment. Like someone had literally just sucked the life out of her.

"I can't believe that you would sleep with Puck!" Quinn screamed at Rachel.

"What?" Rachel said, is a hoarse whisper because a sob was caught in her throat as she tried to get the cold drink out of her eyes.

"What is going on here?" A loud voice said from behind Rachel. Rachel closed her eyes. She had worked so hard to keep this a secret. To keep this part of her hidden. And her supposed best friend was the one who ruined everything.

"Lucy Quinn Fabray! My office, NOW! I suggest the rest of you get out of this building or to whatever club you are supposed to be in or you will all be in trouble." Shelby told the group of students. School was out so there was no reason for them to be in the hallways anyways.

Rachel stood still, hot tears falling down her freezing face.

She felt her mother's presence. She stifled a sob.

"Oh, baby." Shelby said. Rachel turned to look up at her mom.

"I want to go home." Rachel whispered, a faraway look in her eyes. The look concerned Shelby. It was one that she had never seen on her baby before.

"You want me to call and see if Aunt Leah will come get you? She should be picking up Elijah from school now."

"No. I have a change of clothes in my locker." Rachel whispered. The statement confused Shelby, but she didn't push it.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Shelby asked.

"No." Rachel sobbed. Shelby, despite the blue syrup and ice all over Rachel, took one step closer to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her. She used her hand to bring Rachel's head closer to her chest while the girl cried.

Shelby looked down the hallways to see Quinn staring at the two of them. She used her hand to point towards her office. She knew that the look on her face said everything else that it needed too. She was angry with Quinn. In fact, Quinn had never in her life made Shelby this angry. As much as Shelby loved Quinn, and she did love her regardless of what had just happened, Quinn had messed with her baby. But Quinn didn't go into her office. She ran out of the doors that led outside. It was fine. Shelby would deal with her later. Right now, Rachel was her focus.

The sobs coming from Rachel were those of a defeated child. They tore through Shelby like a knife. She was supposed to protect her children, but there was never a way to protect them from everything. Especially not best friends with an obvious chip on their shoulder.

"Come on, let's go get you cleaned up real quick." Shelby said, leaving her arm draped over Rachel's shoulder.

"I can do it. I'll meet you by the car." Rachel whispered. Shelby looked at Rachel and could tell that she needed some time to herself, so she bent down and kissed the sticky forehead of her daughter.

"I'll meet you out there in fifteen minutes." Shelby said. She wasn't going to make this easy on Quinn. And she was going to involve both of her parents. Shelby didn't know Quinn's reasoning, but nothing excused her for what she had done to Rachel.

"Mama…can you go get my stuff out of the choir room and we just leave now? I'd rather clean up at home." Rachel said. There was no reason to mess with the clothes she had in the locker room if she could just go home. She'd need them another day anyways.

"Yes, here are my keys. Take my blazer and put it over the back of the seat when you get in. I'll get your things and lock up my office." Shelby said. Her blazer already had the traces of the slushie on it, so it would just have to be cleaned later.

"Okay." Rachel said softly.

Shelby placed the keys and blazer in Rachel's hands and gently pushed the girl towards the door. It was all too much. Rachel hurt. She was so confused.

She walked out to the car and unlocked it, placing the blazer on the back of the seat and quickly got in and slammed the door shut. Sobs tore through her body as she leaned her head forward, against the dash.

Less than five minutes later, Shelby was in the car. She didn't say anything, she just put Rachel's things in the back and gently pushed Rachel back and reached over her so that she could put Rachel's seatbelt on for her. Rachel didn't say anything, just let her mother guide her through the actions.

"Baby…"

"Please take me home before you go get Beth." Rachel whispered. She didn't want her sister to know that she was a loser. Her mom already knew. That was enough. Shelby nodded and started her car and putting it in drive. Shelby was angry, but at the same time she was hurt. Why would Quinn do that to Rachel?

When they pulled up to the house, Rachel climbed out of the car and waited until Shelby unlocked the door.

"Rachel, go shower, or bathe, whichever you want, and I will be back in a little bit with your sister. Are you sure that you are okay here by yourself?" Shelby asked Rachel as she climbed the stairs.

"Yea. I am fine…Mama?" Rachel asked at the top of the stairs, turning slightly so that she could see Shelby out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes, baby?"

Rachel swallowed.

"I know that Kurt is grounded, but do you think you could ask Carole if he could stay here tonight? Please? He thinks you are still mad at him and…and I'd like it if he could stay here tonight."

"I'll talk to her while I go get Beth. Do you need anything?"

Rachel sat on the stop of the stairs and looked down.

"Only to know why my best friend suddenly turned against me, Mommy. To know why Quinn would take something that she knows hurts me and throw it back in my face."

Tears were falling down Rachel's face steadily now. Shelby was up to the top of the steps in a matter of seconds, and merely held her child, who was so hurt, against her while she cried.

* * *

**AN: **

**So...this chapter is not as long as some, but it needed to end where it did. Let's just say that Aunt Shel is not happy with Quinnie...and that is not all of the excitement that is going to occur out of this situation. Rachel is pretty much devastated at the moment. **

**Also, some of you pretty much hit the nail on the head with the slushie and Quinn and how Shelby saw it pan out. ;)**

**I also need some help deciding on Beth's middle name (let me know if I have already given her one, because I cannot find it if I did)...it cannot be Shelby though. I am open to any other suggestions. **

** I want to say thanks to all the of the reviews...they make me smile and happy and want to write as much as possible all in one lol.**


	9. Two Wrongs Do Not Make A Right

**Chapter Nine: Two Wrongs Do Not Make A Right**

Shelby Corcoran was angry. Livid. Pissed. She gripped the steering wheel tightly in her hand as she drove towards the Hummel's home. Beth was in the backseat, asleep. She had apparently had a rough day at school and had fallen asleep less than five minutes after Shelby had buckled her into her booster seat. She had a sleepover tonight, so it was probably best that she get some rest.

Shelby was glad, simply because she was so angry that she wasn't sure that she could hide it from her daughter. Shelby had already talked to Carole over the phone and explained to her what was going on. Well, more or less. She had told her that Rachel had had a bad day at school and really needed a friend tonight. So, Kurt was going to spend the night with the Corcoran's tonight and would return to his last day of grounding the following morning. Carole had also hinted that Kurt had been moping around the house as well, causing Shelby to laugh lightly because she knew that, according to Rachel, he was still afraid that she was angry with him for the previous week. Shelby promised Carole that she would talk to Kurt and assure him that she was not upset with him any longer…as long as he never got an attitude with her again, which in turn caused Carole to laugh as well.

Making quick work of picking up Kurt, who gently laid his overnight bag in the bag…Shelby had no idea what that was about, but she figured that he had some forbidden snacks in his bag and didn't want Shelby to take them. Shelby monitored the sugar that Rachel took in because the girl acted like she was on speed if she had too much. It was hard enough to get her into bed sometimes without the extra help.

Kurt didn't even know why he was staying the night. All he knew was that Rachel was upset about something. He had had to leave school early for a doctor's appointment and Carole had told him that Shelby was coming to get him after his Dad had dropped him off at home before heading back to the shop to close up.

Shelby wouldn't have taken the snacks though. Not tonight, not while Rachel was so hurt and upset.

Rachel needed whatever Kurt had. The two of them always knew how to make one another feel better. Shelby wasn't going to mess with that.

"I have to take Beth to Mrs. Garcia before we go home. She is spending the night for Amelia's birthday which is tomorrow. I haven't packed her bag yet, but I will take her bag over later."

Kurt nodded. He wasn't so sure that he was supposed to talk. He was positive that Auntie Shel was still mad at him, and she had rarely ever been just mad. He was afraid that she was, though. She hadn't been at school all week because Rachel had been sick, and today Kurt had missed her class to go to the doctor.

Almost as if reading his mind, Shelby reached over and patted his closest hand.

"I am not upset with you, Kurt. I stopped being upset last Friday night. I was disappointed in both yours and Rachel's behavior, but you were both punished, and that is the end of it. The slate is clean." Shelby told him gently.

"Are you sure? I know that I shouldn't have talked to you like I did…" Kurt trailed off.

"No, you shouldn't have, and you know that. I can promise you, Kurt, that the next time you do talk to me as you did, I will hold no reservations in taking you over my knee. I have only had to do that to you once, but I will do what needs to be done. Understood?"

Kurt blushed. He had only been eleven, somehow making it through nearly nine years of never getting into quite enough trouble to get more than a swat from his Auntie Shel. But, one day he had pushed all of her buttons. It had been close to the anniversary of his mom's death, and he had been acting out relentlessly, to the point the Burt didn't know what to do. It was like Kurt no longer cared what his dad or any adult thought.

The topping on the cake, though, had been when Kurt had tried to steal something out of a convenience store on the way home from Pancake Extravaganza. Only because Shelby had heard Rachel trying to get the young boy to 'put it back before you get caught' had he gotten caught. Shelby had promptly demanded he hand over whatever he had and when he had taken five candy bars out of his pockets, she had swiftly escorted him to the bathroom in the little store. In the end, he had confessed that he was missing his mother more lately than ever, and he was sorry for being bad.

"I understand." Kurt said. They pulled up to the Garcia's home, and Shelby roused Beth, who was excited that she was being dropped off early, after whispering in her mommy's ear that she would really need her stuffed rabbit, Babbit, when she came back. Shelby merely smiled and nodded. Together, Shelby and Beth went up the door and rang the bell. Beth could barely contain her excitement when Amelia and Mrs. Garcia answered the door. It didn't take long for the two little girls to run into the house, Beth barely even waving bye to her mother.

The older women both laughed.

"I'll bring her things over after awhile. I left Rach at home, and I am still not too excited about leaving her for long after what happened last week." Shelby told Selene.

"I don't blame you. There was just something about him, Shelby… I am not sure. After everything that you told me, he might have been okay at one time. But now…"

"I know, Selene. I know. I have been keeping a closer eye on the girls. But, if you see him around, will you call me? An extra set of eyes never hurt anything."

"Of course." The Hispanic woman said with a smile.

Soon, Shelby was back out in the car with Kurt, who was staring out the window.

As she backed out of the driveway, Shelby finally spoke, "So, tell me, Kurt, how many slushies have you been hit with this year?"

**-OneStepAtATime-**

A knock at her door was what brought Rachel from her sleep. She answered with a groggy "Come in," and was happy…as happy as she could be after the day she had had…when Kurt walked through the door.

"Diva! What the hell is going on! I am staying here tonight and Auntie Shel looks like she is going to murder someone, but not us, because we are both still alive, and she dropped Beth off at Mrs. Garcia's early for some sleepover, and said that she was going to take Beth's stuff over to her later… now you and I both know that Auntie Shel never goes anywhere unprepared, and it sure felt like she was unprepared to me! And then when it was just the two of us, she just out of the blue asked me how many times I have been slushied since school started! And _then_ she wanted to know how many times _you_ had been! She let me in the house and told me to tell you that she would be gone until about six because she was going over to the Fabray's." Kurt finally took a breath.

Rachel looked at Kurt with her eyebrows both raised in surprise. She had only barely gotten everything he had said.

"She is mad at Quinn. She was walking out of her office today when Quinn slushied me."

Kurt's eyes grew wide. His face contorted into what Rachel could only assume an angry lion's would, and he shouted, "What the fuck! I know she didn't!"

"Yea. I…Mom is really mad at her. I can tell. I haven't really talked to Mom about it, but I don't think she wants to talk to me about it until she confronts Quinn. Which is fine by me. It's not like I wanted Mom to know that I am a loser at school." Rachel whispered the last part.

"Wow! You are not a loser! I am not a loser, and I have gotten nearly as many slushies from Karowsky as you have from Peters. They are the losers." Kurt said, sticking his nose in the air and crossing his arms.

"Quinn is supposed to be my friend. She yelled something about me sleeping with Puck before she threw it at me. I have no idea what she is talking about. Finn and Puck were both acting weird too." Rachel said, trying to remember everything that had happened.

"Yea, Carole said that Finn has been acting oddly. I haven't really seen him this week because of the grounding. I have stayed in my room or at Dad's shop for the most part."

"I don't know. I don't want to think about it all anyways. You didn't happen to bring the stuff with you, did you? I haven't talked to Puck about them since last week sometime, but he said if I wasn't around that he would give them to you…" Rachel was being purposely elusive, but the mischievous smile on Kurt's face told her what she needed to know.

"Oh yes, Diva! I have had them since Tuesday! Want to see them?"

Rachel smiled, nodding quickly.

Kurt went and grabbed his bag which he had left by the door. He pulled out a wallet and pulled two pieces of plastic from it.

"Here ye go, Ms. Barbra Starr!" Kurt said, handing over the fake id that Puck had made for them. It hadn't been cheap, but they were so worth it. They were only for the age of eighteen, as neither Kurt nor Rachel would pass for any older, but they didn't care. They would work for what they needed them for.

"When we use them, you are going to have to do my makeup again. Otherwise I won't look eighteen. Let me see yours!" Rachel snatched the other id from Kurt.

She looked at it and then looked up at Kurt.

"You did not let him give you the name Gaylord!"

"Hey, he loves _Meet the Fockers_ and thought you would approve since…"

"Don't say it! I know, Barbra is in that movie, but still!"

Kurt just burst out laughing.

"Well, I assure you, Ms. Starr, I shall be an excellent Gaylord Anderson."

"I can't believe you also used Blaine's last name. Nerd."

"Oh well, Barbra Starr, would you like to head out? Auntie Shel is not going to be in until six, and we could ask her if it is okay if we go grab some take out down the road."

"Sure, I will call her." Rachel said as the door bell rang. Both looked at one another and stood up.

"Hey Kurt, if it is a tall, black guy down at the door…please call my Mom…" Rachel said, her eyes going off, thinking about the previous Friday.

Kurt only nodded. He knew what happened the previous week with Leroy Berry, and he wouldn't hesitate to call…in fact, he would probably call the police first.

The two walked downstairs and to the front door. Through the glass, they could see that it was not Leroy Berry. On the contrary, it was much worse.

It was Quinn.

Something suddenly overtook Rachel's ability to think straight. She walked up to the door, slammed it open and looked at the girl in front of her.

"What do you want, Quinn?" Rachel hissed.

"Aunt Shel was on her way to my house…"

"I don't care! Leave! I don't want to talk to you!" Rachel yelled.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here, Quinn." Kurt said from behind Rachel.

"Rach…"

There was nothing else said, because Quinn was cut short as Rachel's tiny fist made its way to her left eye.

"Holy Hells!" Kurt said. Quinn was holding her eye, but turned and ran down the sidewalk.

"I shouldn't have done that." Rachel whispered, shaking her hand out. She looked down at her thumb, and realized she had forgotten the number one rule of fighting: the thumb goes outside the fist.

"That is going to leave a bruise. Mom is going to kill me." Rachel said, going over to the house phone and picking it up. She dialed her mother's number and waited on her to answer.

"_Rach, baby? Is everything alright? I am speaking with Judy, you haven't seen Quinn have you?"_

Rachel sighed.

"I am sorry, Mama."

"_For what, baby?"_

"For everything."

"_Baby, you are not making any sense…"_

"Quinn was here, Mama. I punched her in the face. I think she is heading back to her house now. I am sorry. Please don't be mad at me."

On the other line, Shelby sighed.

"_I am not necessarily mad, but we will talk about it when I get home, okay?"_

"Yes, Ma'am." Rachel sniffed, "Can me and Kurt go down the way to get some take out? You won't be home until later anyways, and we are getting hungry."

Shelby was quiet for several moments, thinking.

"_Yes. You can walk down there. Go into my room and in my underwear drawer, there is twenty dollars. That should feed both you and Kurt. I want you to both be back at the house by six thirty, and if I am not home, none of the junk food Kurt brought is allowed to be eaten after eight. I should be home way before then though. If you see that man…"_

"I will call you, and Kurt will call the police."

"_Good girl. You two behave. We will talk when I get home about everything. I love you, Rachel."_

"Okay, Mama. I love you, too." Rachel said quietly. She wasn't going to pretend that she was not upset about earlier, but she also wasn't going to pretend that hitting Quinn in the eye hadn't felt good.

But, it had also felt bad because Quinn was supposed to be her friend. And despite the slushie Quinn had dumped on her earlier, Rachel didn't want to be the kind of friend that Quinn had been earlier. Now she was really no better than Quinn.

"Come on, you have to do my makeup before we leave." Rachel said quietly, heading towards the stairs.

Forty-five minutes later, Kurt and Rachel were walking into _The Shoppe: Tattoos and Piercings_.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Judy, I do not know how to handle this one. I do not know whether I am Rachel's mother and Quinn's aunt, or if I am their teacher. That is why I let her go when she ran out of the building." Shelby said after relaying to Judy what had happened at school.

She had arrived a mere thirty minutes before, only to find out that Quinn had snuck out of the house when she heard that Shelby was coming. Judy had texted the girl and told her that if she ever wanted to see daylight again, that she would turn back around and come home.

Quinn had replied almost instantly and said she would be home in the next half hour.

Then Rachel had called Shelby, only for Shelby to find out that Rachel had hit Quinn in the eye when she had come to their front door. At the moment, Shelby was merely calm. Obviously something was going on, and she knew that she wasn't going to get anywhere if she was as angry as she was when she had watched Quinn dump that stupid drink over Rachel.

"I don't know, Shelby, but this cannot go on. Kurt told you that Rachel has been getting hit with slushies several times a week? How is she hiding it?"

"She has clothes in the locker room apparently. She showers and changes in there, and then uses the football washer and dryer to clean her clothes so that she can change back into them before I see her. Rachel gets hit with them by a girl named Tess Peters. She is an eleventh grade. Apparently, according to Kurt, she is jealous of Rachel."

"Is Rachel the only student who is getting hit with them?" Judy asked. This entire situation concerned her. It concerned her that her daughter was being a bully and it concerned her that Rachel was being bullied and felt like she couldn't tell anyone about it.

"No. Apparently quite a few kids get the same treatment, but no one ever does it anywhere near my classroom and office, or anywhere they think I might be. Kurt said that pretty much all of the kids are afraid of me, and it is one of the reasons that Rachel is still being bullied, because they thought she would tell me and didn't. Kurt said now that I know, he honestly thinks that Tess will stop. Though, I can guarantee that she will stop. I will not let her hurt my kid."

"Shelby, why do you think Quinn would do that to Rachel? She and Rachel have been best friends since they were nine."

"I don't know. I…I think that I just need to talk to her, to find out why. Her punishment or lack thereof is up to you. I am biased in this situation, Judy. I never thought that I would be concerning our kids, but Rachel was so hurt. And now, to top it off, I have to get on to her for striking Quinn. No matter what the circumstances were in this situation, it was not okay for her to hit Quinn."

"I understand, Shelby. Had it been Rachel throwing that slushie at Quinn like that, I would be biased too. I think, even, had it been Rachel throwing one at Quinn, _your_ anger would be reversed as well. I am angry at Quinn for this, nothing makes this okay. And for that, she will pay her dues."

"We've all been family for so long, it just…"

The side entrance door that was in the kitchen opened up and Shelby stopped talking as she watched Quinn walk into the house, her head hung low.

"Come sit at the table, Quinn." Judy said in a no-nonsense voice. She wasn't going to let her daughter have an inch in this situation.

Quinn never looked up, but she did sit between her mother and Aunt Shel.

Judy reached over and lifted Quinn's chin up and looked at her eye.

"Hm, seems our little Rachel has a bit of spunk." Judy said, standing up and walking over to the freezer.

"How do you know that is how I got hit?" Quinn whispered, staring back at the table.

"Rachel called and told me." Shelby stated.

Quinn's face shot up and looked at Shelby. She was surprised that Rachel had told them that she had hit Quinn.

"Tell me about that slushie today, Quinn. Why did you do it?" Shelby asked.

Quinn looked down at her lap. Talking about this was going to get her into more trouble, but so was lying about it.

"Quinn. Now." Judy said, handing her a frozen bag of peas. She had purposely picked out the peas because after they were no longer cold, she would throw the bag away. And Quinn hated peas so she figured the firl would be glad to get rid of them.

"Tess Peters told me that Rachel slept with Puck. Rachel knows that I like Puck, so it made me angry. It wasn't until afterwards that I figured out that Tess was lying to me."

"Quinn Fabray!" Judy said, "All of this was about a girl, this Tess, who has been bullying Rachel all semester apparently, telling you something about your best friend that you automatically believed? You didn't even ask Rachel? I am ashamed of you!"

This caused Quinn to burst into tears. She was ashamed of herself too. Had she been thinking clearly, and had she not been so upset to begin with, she would have realized that Tess was lying to her.

Tears dripped down her face, and suddenly a wet paper towel was wiping her face off.

Quinn looked up and was surprised to see that it was Shelby using the towel.

"I know that I shouldn't have done it. I know that I should have told you that Rach was being bullied to begin with. She is so angry with me. She wouldn't even hear me out or anything. I know that I made a mistake. Now, not only will she and Kurt not talk to me, but neither will Puck or Finn. Four of my friends will barely even look at me." Quinn cried.

"Quinn, was that the first slushie that you have thrown at another student at school?" Judy asked.

Her question was answered when Quinn flinched.

"How many and on who."

"One other one. On Jacob."

"Why." Judy was no longer trying to ease the conversation along. She was angry. She would have never thought that her daughter would be a bully. After everything their family had gone through, she really thought that Quinn would be different.

"I don't know."

"That isn't good enough, Quinn! But apparently you do not care about others if you will even hurt your best friend by doing something so hateful!"

Quinn threw the bag of peas across the kitchen floor where they exploded when they hit the cabinet and stood up.

"I had too! I have to fit in! It is Rachel's own fault that she keeps getting those slushies thrown at her! It is because of her and Finn and because she won't tell Aunt Shel what is going on! That is how Tess works and that is not my fault! I am sorry that I threw one at her today! I am sorry that she is hurt, and I am sorry that I am the one that broke her! But I am not sorry for everything else!"

Judy looked at her daughter and shook her head. She was so disappointed in the girl.

"Go to your room. Consider yourself grounded. I will be up shortly to discuss the rest of your punishment."

Quinn knew what that meant, and it just made her angrier.

"Fine! I don't expect you to understand anyways!" She yelled at her mother.

Judy stood up and grabbed her daughter's arm then sat back down and pulled her over her lap.

"You do not yell at me, young lady." Judy admonished as she swatted Quinn's backside. Normally, Judy would not have punished Quinn so in front of anyone, even Shelby, but she knew Quinn, and knew that her daughter would have just dug herself deeper into the hole she was already in. Had it, however, been anyone besides Shelby, she would have taken her elsewhere. But, a little humility might be good her darling daughter.

By the tenth swat, Quinn was bawling. Her mother was not joking around, and her bum was already hurting.

"Please, please…please, Mom, stop!"

Judy gave her five more swats, fifteen in total, one for each year of her life. She then stood Quinn up. She offered no comfort to her baby. It was not a time for that. There would be time for hugs and forgiveness and cuddles later.

"Go stand in the corner in mine and your father's room. I will be up when Shelby leaves." Judy told her. This time Quinn only nodded and walked, albeit stiffly, towards the doorway. There she turned around, "Can I change my clothes first?" she sniffed.

Judy looked over towards her for a moment.

"Yes, then directly into my room."

"Yes, ma'am. Aunt Shel…I am sorry…" she cried.

Shelby nodded, "I know that you are, but one I'm sorry isn't going to fix this overnight with Rachel I am afraid."

"Do you still love me?" Quinn asked in a tone so pitiful that it nearly broke Shelby's heart. What was with these kids when they were in trouble with her? Why did they automatically feel like they were unwanted or unloved the moment they were in trouble?

"Very much so. You did a bad thing, but you are not a bad person, Quinn. Nothing you could ever do could ever make me not love you."

Quinn nodded and then started walking towards the stairs, and then up them.

Judy and Shelby were quiet for several moments before Judy spoke up, "Thank you for telling her that."

Shelby looked at Judy, "Judy, I love that child like she is one of my own. Like you said, had it been reversed, and it been Rachel in her position, I would be just as hard on her."

"Oh I know that. I am just in shock that she actually did it."

"Rachel shouldn't have struck her."

"No, two rights definitely do not make a right."

"I need to go speak with Rachel about all of this. I also need to make sure that she and Kurt don't tear the house apart while I am gone and I still haven't taken Beth her clothes and Babbit."

Judy smiled.

"You had better go. I will call you tomorrow. I feel like tonight is going to be kind of long dealing with Quinn."

"I am so sorry about all of this Judy. I know that I should have handled it all better at the school."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I knew this year was going to be difficult with the girls starting high school, but I didn't realize that it was going to this hard."

"Me neither, Judy."

Soon, Shelby was headed back to her own house. Thankfully. While she had to talk to Rachel about hitting Quinn, she wasn't necessarily angry at the girl. She didn't agree with what she did and she would be lectured, but that would probably be as much punishment as the fourteen year old got.

Walking into the house, Shelby noticed that it was close to seven, and both Kurt and Rachel were in the kitchen eating Chinese food.

Shelby walked over to the bar and looked at all the food in front of the two kids.

"I only had twenty dollars in that drawer…" Shelby said, noticing that Rachel had a bag of ice on her hand.

"You had thirty. I got you some food too. That is why there is so much." Rachel said as she watched her mother lift the bag off of her swollen hand.

"Thanks, love. I take it you forgot to put your thumb inside of your fist?" Shelby asked, examining the already black and blue thumb on her daughter's right hand.

"Yea. I am sorry that I hit her. It was too soon. It was like she just did what she did, and then she was here. I couldn't take it. I think I would have done the same had you been standing beside me. But, I still knew that I shouldn't have done it. I guess that is why I went ahead and called you to let you know that I did it."

Shelby knew that she was telling the truth.

"Hopefully if we ice it, the swelling will go down. Try not to use it. If it gets worse you are going to the doctor Monday."

"Yes, Ma'am." Rachel said, bending over and scooping more rice noodles into her mouth with her left hand.

She flinched, both Shelby and Kurt noticed it.

"Sorry, baby. I'll try to be gentler." Shelby said, as she laid the ice back on Rachel's thumb with her right hand and rubbed Rachel's back with her left when she had felt the girl flinch.

Shelby grabbed a closed carton and a pair of wrapped chopsticks and sat on a barstool so that she could eat. She was famished and she still needed to take Beth her things.

It had been another wild Friday. Hopefully she would have a few calm days to relax. Or weeks.

If only she could see the future, Shelby would have known that the fun was just beginning.

* * *

**AN: So...I didn't really like this chapter...So I would love to know what everyone thought. I just could not get it to go the way I envisioned it in my head...ugh. **

**Thanks for all the awesome reviews last chapter though:) I am pretty sure that I have decided what Beth's middle name is going to be, but that won't come out for a few more chapters and will have a back story. **

**Also, do you think it was a Tattoo, Piercing, Both, Kurt or Rachel, both? :)**


	10. Seductions

**Chapter Ten: Seductions**

Saturday, Rachel and Kurt just talked in Rachel's room until it was time for Kurt to go home at twelve. Shelby was taking him home when she and Rachel had to go over to the Garcia's house for Amelia's birthday. Shelby had volunteered their assistance to Selene, and while Rachel wasn't overly excited to spend time with a bunch of five and six year olds, she didn't fuss, mainly because her mom had not really punished her for punching Quinn. She had just been lectured about it. Rachel figured she kinda owed her mom this one, and she really like Mrs. Garcia, and had since she was little.

"Does it hurt today?" Kurt asked quietly. Rachel looked at him and shook her head.

"Nah, not really." She told him as a knock at her door alerted them both.

"Come in, Mom." Rachel said, shoving some of the wrappers from the snacks Kurt had brought under the bed.

"I did not just see you shove trash under your bed." Shelby said as she walked into the room.

"Nope." Rachel said cheekily.

"You better have it cleaned out later tonight."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Kurt, do you have everything ready? Rach, did you grab a swimsuit for the party?" Shelby asked as she watched Kurt get up to grab his things to make his way towards the stairs.

"I am not going to swim." Rachel said quickly. Kurt walked out of the room and down the stairs. He didn't really want to be around if Auntie Shel found out about what they did the day before.

Not to mention how they got the money to do it.

"Why not, Rach? You love to swim."

"I just don't, okay? I…you know…I started this morning." Rachel blurted out the only thing that she could think of.

Shelby's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"You were on your period two weeks ago, Rach."

"Well, I don't know why I started! You know way more about it than I do. Its…lighter than normal." She had heard Santana say that once when she had started at the wrong time.

"Well, sweetheart, if you want to swim, there are some tampons in the bathroom. I know you said that you didn't want to try them yet, but…"

Rachel blushed.

"Mom, please, I really don't want to swim. I would rather just help the kids with the games or whatever."

Shelby slowly nodded. Her phone dinged, so her attention was momentarily taken away from her daughter.

"Come on, let's take Kurt home. Here," Shelby handed the phone to the girl, "Quinn is texting. I ask that you give her a chance to explain herself. She might surprise you."

"Are you going to read these messages too? Because I can't guarantee that everything I say is going to be nice, and I don't want to get into trouble." Rachel stated, looking up at her mother.

"You can delete these messages as long as you try to be nice. If I find out you were cursing, or anything else purposely hurtful, you will be in trouble."

"Okay." Rachel said as she took the phone from her mother. She looked down at the messge:

_-Rachel, please let me explain everything. Even if you are madder once I am done telling you everything that happened.-_

Rachel sighed. It was going to be a long day.

-Fine. Tell me. But I am telling you now that I plan on being angry a bit longer.-

_-Okay, I just want to tell you what happened. I know that you are going to Mrs. Garcias…meet me out front so I can tell you everything?-_

-Fine. Ten minutes.-

_-K.-_

Rachel put the phone to sleep and realized that she was outside already. She climbed into the front seat because Kurt had gotten in the back, and she laid her head back, handing the phone back to her mother without bothering to delete the messages. She didn't care if her mom read them or not.

"Well?" Shelby asked.

"She is going to meet me outside at the Garcia's. We are going to talk then she is going to go home."

Shelby nodded her head. She knew that Quinn was grounded, but if the girls were going to talk, then she wouldn't say anything.

"Okay. Please don't hit her again." Shelby said seriously.

"I won't."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel looked at Quinn. She paid particular attention to the girl's black eye. It was a nice black eye. Rachel was slightly proud of herself since it was the first one she had ever given. Even if her thumb was black and blue and her mother kept picking her hand up to examine it, to make sure that it wasn't getting worse.

Yet, there was still a bit of remorse. She shouldn't have hit Quinn, and she knew it.

"Are you going to talk?" Rachel finally asked.

Quinn nodded.

"It all started when you were sick, Rach. I don't know how it all started for real, but it was like Monday. Puck just all of a sudden said that he didn't want to date me anymore. He said there were other fish in the sea, and since I obviously wasn't committed to him, that he didn't have to be committed to me." Quinn wiped a tear away from her cheek.

"Come to find out, though I only found out yesterday, Puck was told that I slept with Finn. And…Gah this is so hard, Rachel. Tess told me that Puck had the hots for you and she saw you the week before making out with him in the football locker rooms after one of the slushie attacks, and I believed her because no one knows that you go in there. It was rash, I know…but my mind wasn't really thinking. So I went to Finn, and I pushed him up against the lockers, and I started making out with him. Puck saw us and they got into a fight."

Rachel glared at her friend. She was angry. But she was even angrier with Tess Peters.

"Why did you slushie me? You know how much that bothers me." Rachel asked, a tear falling down her face.

Quinn swallowed.

"When you followed me out of the classroom, and then stopped…When I turned around to look at you, Puck had come out. He was walking towards you. That is when I grabbed the slushie from Tess because I thought she's been telling me the truth."

"You suck, Quinn. You know that right? You made me feel like the biggest loser ever. My mom saw everything. And I have tried so hard to keep her from seeing me like that, to keep her from realizing that I am a loser. That she has a loser for a kid." Rachel cried.

"I know that's how you feel, but you're not a loser Rachel. I am so sorry that I made you feel that way. Are…are we still friends?"

Rachel looked over at her for several moments.

"We are friends. But I don't want to be friendly right now. You have hurt me more than anyone else ever has and I need to get over that first. And you can call Finn and tell him that I am through. My mom didn't approve anyways. And you can have him. Besides, sounds like Puck might like to hang out now anyways since you aren't dating him." Rachel said angrily.

With that, Rachel turned around and walked towards the back yard, leaving Quinn standing in the middle of the Garcia's home.

Once she closed the back gate, she leaned heavily against it.

Shelby saw her immediately, and walked over to the young girl.

"Baby girl, are you okay?"

Rachel nodded, and quickly rubbed her eyes. Shelby walked closer to her and took the bottom of her shirt and wiped the tears away from Rachel's face. Rachel leaned into her and smiled.

"Thanks, Mama." Rachel whispered.

"You are welcome, baby. Now come help. There are twenty, five and six year olds out here who need entertained.

Rachel laughed.

"Okay."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Sister!" Beth, who was wearing a purple sundress over her swimsuit, yelled, and ran to Rachel, jumping into her arms as she did. Rachel barely caught her, and then grimaced from pain when she did. But Beth wrapped her arms around Rachel and laid her head on her shoulder.

"I missed you so much last night, Sister!" Beth whispered in Rachel's ear.

"Aw, really? Even though I am mean sometimes?" Rachel laughed.

"Yea. I liked spending the night here, but I like staying with you and mommy better."

"Did you have fun with Amelia, though?" Rachel asked, sitting down in the closest empty chair so that she could talk to Beth. Beth was often clingy when she had spent the night away, (as was Rachel, but that was beside the point in Rachel's eyes) but it tended to be worse when she spent the night with a friend instead of a family member.

"Yea, we had fun. What did you do to your hand, sister?" Beth asked, gently picking up Rachel's black and blue hand.

"I just hurt it last night. It will be okay, as long as Mommy doesn't make me go to the doctor."

Beth looked up at Rachel, "You really need to learn to stay of the hospital, Rachie. Aunt Leah said that you get stuck in there more than anyone she knows because sometimes you do silly things. Except last time when you were sick. And that was just scary."

"Aunt Leah said that? Well, I think Aunt Leah is silly. But, between you and me, Sis, she is probably right. I do silly things that I shouldn't and then I get hurt. But I will be okay this time I think."

"Okay, Sister." Beth said, leaning forward and kissing Rachel's nose and then climbing off of her big sister.

"I am going to play now, Rachie. I will see you later!"

Beth ran off and into a group of other little girls. Rachel just smiled. As bratty as Beth could be, and as much as they fought sometimes, she really did love her sister.

Rachel was just about to get up when she looked up and stopped as someone came through the back gate with a little girl with curly black hair. She was wearing a yellow sun dress and was holding the hand of someone.

Then Rachel got a better look.

It was Noah Puckerman and his little sister Krista.

Rachel knew how she was going to get back at Quinn for making out with Finn.

"Hello, Noah." Rachel said, standing up and batting her eyelashes just a tiny bit before she walked over to him.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby walked into Rachel's room later that night and sat on the side of the bed. Rachel was lying under blankets, one bare leg on the outside of the covers, with her ear buds in her ears. Shelby patted her bare leg as Rachel took her ear buds out of her ears.

"Hey, Mom." Rachel said, moving over closer to her mom and leaned against her.

"Hey, Baby. How did your talk with Quinn go today?" Shelby asked. She hadn't had time to talk to Rachel since the party, which had been over at five. They had come home, had supper, and then she had had to help Beth with her bath and get her to bed.

"I told her that I was still her friend, but she has to give me time to not be angry anymore. I can't help it, Mom. I am still mad at her. I know that I hit her, and maybe that should have made things more even, but it didn't. She knew that she was going to hurt me when she did that. She did a lot of things to hurt me this week and I didn't do anything to her."

"Why didn't you tell me about the slushies, Rach?" Shelby ran her hand through Rachel's hair. Rachel was quiet for a few minutes as tears pricked at her eyes.

"Talk to me, Baby."

"I didn't want you to know. I didn't want you to know that…" Rachel stopped talking.

"What didn't you want me to know?" Shelby continued to run her hand through Rachel's hair. It calmed Rachel, and she could tell that Rachel was getting very upset.

"I didn't want you to know that I am loser at school. That I don't have hardly any friends, and those that I do have obviously don't care if they hurt me." Rachel broke down into sobs.

Shelby reached down and wrapped Rachel into a hug. Somehow, Rachel got out from underneath the blankets and crawled into her Mom's lap in a way she hadn't in years. She threw one leg on each side of her mother's legs and was chest to chest with Shelby, her face in her mother's neck and her arms wrapped around her neck. Shelby adjusted Rachel's long t-shirt, as it had twisted slightly when she had moved.

Shelby rocked her back and forth, and patted her back. She could feel the tears of her daughter falling onto her neck.

"Baby, you are not a loser. Your only problem is that you are too big for those people. They are jealous. You are so talented and smart. You are anything but a loser. One day, you are going to do great things. Things that most of those kids at McKinley cannot even imagine. How many of them do you think have the plans and dreams that you have? How many of them would go back to school day after day to face those bullies? But no more. I am not going to let you be bullied by anyone. Not Quinn, and definitely not Tess Peters. You, Rachel Barbra, are not a loser. You are a star." Shelby whispered in her ear.

Rachel sniffed, "Thank you, Mama."

"Are you okay, sweetheart? Truly. Are you okay?"

"Yea, I will be. It's just a lot to take in. I feel like I keep messing up, and I am always doing something to make you angry. I don't like it when you are angry with me. Even when I am upset with you, I hate that I have made you angry."

"Rach, there are always going to be times when you and I do not get along. There are going to be times when you and I fight, or when you do something that gets you into trouble. There will be times when I have to ground you or spank you, or punish you in some other way. But, Rach, you have to remember the most important thing."

"What is that?" Rachel whispered, merely leaning her head against Shelby's shoulder.

"I will always love you. No matter what. You will always have your family, and no matter what you do, I will be there to help you, whether it is to applaud you, chastise you, or to help you back up. I want you to remember that. I love you, Rachel Barbra Corcoran."

They sat like that for another thirty or so minutes before Shelby finally told Rachel that it was time for her to go to bed. Rachel climbed off her mother and into bed.

Shelby bent down and kissed Rachel goodnight. Rachel was asleep before Shelby made it out of her room.

Right before Shelby walked out of the door, she turned and watched her child sleep. Fourteen was such a difficult age, and she wished that she could make it easier on Rachel. For ten minutes, Shelby merely watched Rachel, and then turned and went to bed.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel looked at the food in front of her. Shelby had cooked a real breakfast since it was Sunday and Rachel was now playing with it. Normally they only ate cereal or toast. But today Shelby had made pancakes, bacons, and eggs. Rachel only had pancakes and bacon…she hated eggs. She hadn't been able to eat an egg since Shelby had tried feeding them to her when she was a baby. According to Shelby, Rachel had made herself gag so much from the tiny piece of egg, that she had thrown up all over Shelby and herself. Shelby had thought it was a fluke, so three weeks later, she had tried it again, the eggs cooked differently, but with the same results.

Beth was the opposite. She loved eggs. The way she ate them was disgusting to Rachel. Beth could get really creative with her food. Shelby always made Beth three eggs, scrambled. If they were eating pancakes and bacon like today, Beth would put the pancakes down first, then crumble the bacon over top of the pancakes, and then put the eggs on top of it. Then she would pour syrup all over it. It made Rachel want to vomit, but Shelby always just told her not to look at Beth's plate.

Like she would _want _to look at that mess.

"We are eating lunch at Aunt Leah's today, so after you eat breakfast, I want you both to go up and get ready."

Beth nodded, but Rachel looked up at her mom.

"Can I stay here? Please? I don't want to go to Aunt Leah's."

"Why, Rach? You like going over there."

"I know, it's just…you know, Mom…" Rachel hinted.

Shelby's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Mom! Remember, why I didn't want to swim yesterday." Rachel said, exasperated.

Realization dawned on Shelby, "Oh! Well, sweetie, I really wish that you would go."

"I just don't feel like it. Can I please stay here?"

Shelby thought for several moments. They were only going to be gone for a few hours, and they wouldn't be far, only ten minutes away.

"Alright. It will probably be about four thirty before we get back though. But you need to keep your cell phone beside you so that if you fall asleep I can get a hold of you. I can make you something to eat before I leave for lunch…"

"Mama, it is fine. I will just eat a sandwich. Okay?"

"Okay, baby. Do you need some aspirin?"

"Please?"

Shelby nodded and got up and went over to the medicine cabinet by the fridge. She got the aspirin bottle and got out two pills for Rachel and handed them to the girl.

"Thanks, Mama."

"You are welcome, baby." Shelby said with a warm smile.

A smile that almost made Rachel feel bad about what she was planning. But she was going through with it one way or another."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel watched her mother and Beth pull out of the driveway. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Kurt's number. Thankfully, the day before was Kurt's last day of grounding.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey Kurt. I need you to come over. Now. Come make me look older, Kurt."

Kurt didn't like the sound of that.

But he did love a good makeover.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Let me cut your bangs." Kurt begged Rachel as he did her makeup. Her eyeliner was on thick and dark, her eye shadow smoky, the rouge on her cheeks rosy. She already looked quite a bit older than her fourteen years, but Kurt was certain that cutting Rachel's bangs would make her look even a bit older.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea, Rach?"

"They are broken up and she made out with my boyfriend. I told her to go for Finn is she wanted because Puck was obviously free to hang out. Besides, Puck is sorta cute. Cut my bangs."

"But, Rach…" Kurt said as he fixed her lips, a little darker than was probably necessary and then cut her bangs carefully.

"What are you doing to wear?" Kurt asked.

Rachel smiled. She loved the fact that her friend was gay, else she would have been too embarrassed to show him.

"Give me a sec. Give me the scissors for a sec."

Rachel took the scissors with her into the bathroom where she had already laid out her clothes. She undressed completely, and then put on a pair of white panties, and a lacy, white, push up bra. She then took a shirt she had taken from her mother's drawers before Kurt got there. It was a baseball shirt, the body of it was white and the sleeves and collar where navy blue. She cut the bottom of the shirt off, and when she put it on, the shirt ended about three inches above her belly button.

She walked out of the bathroom and in front of Kurt.

Kurt's eyes grew wide.

"You are not the Rachel I knew ten minutes ago. Diva, you are going to have to make sure that he knows he isn't here for sex…otherwise…"

"Don't worry, Kurt. I can take care of it." Rachel smiled.

"That tattoo looks great, too, Diva!" Kurt said, getting close to her side and hip to look at the musical notes and lines. It hadn't yet scabbed over; it looked amazing.

"Thanks, Kurt." Rachel said with a smirk.

She was ready.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Noah Puckerman was many things, pool boy in the summer, seducer all year around…but when he knocked the door at the Corcoran's home, with the knowledge that only Rachel was there, he was something else entirely.

He wasn't sure why he had never seen it. Why he had never paid closer attention, but Rachel Corcoran was…well, she was hot!

Rachel had opened the door wearing nothing but underwear and a skimpy shirt, a tootsie pop in her hand. Every few seconds she would lick the sucker and it had Puck more than a little hot and bothered.

And he didn't get hot and bothered.

"Come in, Noah…We can go hang out in my room." Rachel said, batting her eyelashes a couple times.

Puck merely nodded and followed her through the house, barely remembering to shut the door behind him.

He watched her ass as she climbed the stairs ahead of him and then he noticed the tattoo on her side and hip.

That was why she had wanted the fake ids that he had made for her and Hummel.

It was pretty big, musical notes and the five lines that one could find on sheet music…only it was twisted around and outlined in white. It was pretty cool. Puck had to admit, he hadn't thought she'd have the guts to go through with getting a tattoo at all.

They walked into her bedroom and Rachel sat on her bed.

"Just so you know, Noah, I'll hang out with you, we can make out, you can cop all the feel you want…but I will not sleep with you, Noah." Rachel told him.

Puck nodded dumbly then walked over to Rachel and leaned down to kiss Rachel, full on. While he was doing that, he pulled his shirt over his head, taking his head away from Rachel only for a few moments.

They made out for a few moments, but then he stopped, without a word, and pulled Rachel off the bed. He laid down on the bed and then pulled Rachel down on top of him.

He swallowed. Seriously, had anyone known just how hot Corcoran was?

Rachel sat just above Puck's hips, and leaned down to begin a heavy makeout session with him.

Before long, Puck's hands had found places to roam. His left was under the skimpy t-shirt Rachel had on, cupping her breast, and the right one was down the back of her panties cupping her ass. With tongues battling for dominance, they were in their own little world.

Suddenly, Rachel felt something grab her arm, her body practically flying through the air, Puck's hands ripped away from her body. Rachel, almost in midair, had had to grab her panties so that they didn't get pulled off. It had been a reflex.

"What in the Hell is going on in here?"

The voice was angry, and the grip on Rachel's arm was tight.

Rachel swallowed, trying to get brave enough to finally look up into the face that belonged to that angry voice.

* * *

**AN: Whew...I know I have said this before, but I am nervous about this chapter. This chapter has actually been half written since before I started to post this story. It was always going to happen.**

**A few facts: Rachel's tattoo. It is rather large, but I imagine it about as big as one I have on my back. It took a little less than two hours to do, and it is pretty intricate at about twelve or so inchs high and six or so inches wide with words and stuff around it. Rachel's would have taken about that long, and since Shelby was gone from about 4:00 to 7:30, it would work. And, it is possible to hide tattoos...lol I have hid one from my parents for two years, and it is in a much more obvious place than Rachel's is...not that Rach's is necessarily hidden now lol **

**Also, relationship wise. While I am not going to go into detail, remember, that Rachel is not allowed to date at all, so technically she cannot have a relationship with anyone. She is only fourteen.**

**To the reviewer who hoped that both Quinn and Rachel had NOT had sex yet...they haven't. They are really young, and I want to keep some things simple. Rachel thinks what she did with Puck was simple, that it was, more or less, making things right. She sees too much right now in black and white. Don't worry, when Mama finds out how her dear child views things, it will be corrected. **

**One last thing, I am going to put a link to my Photobucket banners for this story ****n my profile page. ****There is one for this chapter...Yes, Rachel looks hella older...but if you have seen Toddlers and Tiaras...you know that it is possible to make an eight year old look 25, so I imagine Kurt as very successful...anyways, the new banner, along with the two previous ones I have made, are there. They are not my best work, but they are okay...I'd still love to know what you think. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews. I will leave off now and begin the next chapter...which Rachel may more may not live through...what do you think;)**


	11. Mama Knows

**Chapter Eleven: Mama Knows**

Shelby had been trying to get a hold of Rachel for forty-five minutes. She and Beth had been at Leah and James' house for an hour, and she had simply wanted to call and make sure that Rach did not want to come over. Shelby didn't mind driving back home to get her if she did.

Beth was in the living room playing some video game with Elijah, both of them enchanted by the soul sucking device. Shelby had a Wii at her house as well, but she monitored how much time the girls spent playing the device, just like she knew that her sister monitored how much Elijah played it here. The games were usually brought out for special occasions, or at Sunday lunch to keep the kids entertained while the adults talked.

"So, Rach was feeling poorly?" Leah asked as she stirred the sauce she was making on the stove.

"She said she was cramping. I don't know, she only started about six weeks ago, so I am sure that her body is still adjusting to all the changes. She didn't want to swim at the Garcia's yesterday either, and you know how much she loves to swim."

"Yea." Leah said, thinking. She picked the spoon up out of the sauce and turned towards her sister.

"How is she handling this Quinn thing?" Leah asked. Shelby had called Leah and told her a little bit about what had happened with Quinn and the slushie, but other than that she had pretty much left it alone. Rachel was still so upset about the whole thing that she didn't want people to bring it up when Rach was around.

"She is okay. I mean, she is still upset, and I don't blame her, but even I don't know everything. She talked to Quinn yesterday but she seemed…I don't know, different when she was finished. She was still upset, but it there was still something off about her." Shelby said, wracking her brain to try and remember why Rachel's demeanor had been so different after her talk with Quinn.

"All of this has to do with a boy?"

Shelby rolled her eyes.

"From what I understand. Those are the parts that both girls are trying to keep out as much as possible because neither of them is allowed to date and they know it. I know that it all has something to do with some lies about Noah Puckerman and Finn Hudson." Shelby said, picking up her phone and dialing first Rachel's number and when she didn't pick up again, she dialed the house phone.

"Why don't you go check on her? Maybe she will feel like coming over?" Leah suggested. It was very unusual that Rachel didn't answer her phone and Leah knew that Shelby still felt on edge about the whole Leroy Berry fiasco.

"I'll just call Judy. They are closer and she called me earlier wanting to check up on Rachel."

Leah nodded and went to stir her sauce again while Shelby called Judy.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Judy and Russell had both decided that a Sunday drive would be nice. So, it was not out of their way when Shelby called and asked if they would go check on Rachel. Quinn was at home, pouting because she was grounded for two weeks and had no access to her computer, phone, or iPod. Judy and Russell had both been angry with the girl about the slushie she had thrown on Friday, and nothing Quinn could say to them would erase that fact. They had ignored the fact that she had snuck out of the house the day before, but only because Shelby had texted them and told them that Quinn was speaking with Rachel. The fifteen year old had come directly home afterwards, slightly distant, but home nonetheless.

"Did you say that Shelby was at Leah and James'?" Russell asked. He and James played golf together, and had had a game the day before. Russ had beat James for the first time in three years.

"Yes," Judy said, smiling, because she knew that her husband was thinking about the game that he had won the day before. She just shook her head.

"Give me the keys, dear." Judy said, so that she could unlock the door to the house with the key she had on her keyring. Russ turned the car off and the duo got out and made their way up the steps of the porch where Judy unlocked the door.

"I'll just go up and check on her." Judy said, when she looked around, aware that Rachel wasn't downstairs.

"Okay, tell her I'd like to at least say hello if she is up." Russ said. It had been several weeks since he had seen the little spit fire Corcoran, and he had missed her.

Judy smiled and nodded as she made her way up the stairs.

Russ walked into the kitchen and sat at the barstool while his wife went up the stairs. However, he jumped back up when he heard a scream of "What the Hell is going on in here?" from his wife.

Russ quickly took up the stairs and to say that he was shocked at what he saw when he got to Rachel's room would be an understatement. Judy had a tight hold on Rachel's arm and the girl was barely dressed.

Then Russ realized that there was someone else in the room.

Puckerman. He glared at the shirtless boy in front of him, and marched over to him and grabbed him by the arm and then bent down and picked up the boy's shirt.

"Uncle Russ! What are you doing to Noah?" Rachel yelled. Puck actually looked a little frightened. This had never happened before. Ever.

"We are going to have a little talk!" Russ said, pulling the boy with him as he went down the stairs, and then pushed him down on the couch in the living room, daring the boy to even think about moving with a mere glare. No one mess with his girls.

Upstairs, Rachel was struggling to get out of Judy's grasp. Judy shook Rachel once and stared down at her for a moment.

"Come on, we are going to call your mother."

That got Rachel's attention.

"No! You can't!" Rachel said hurriedly. She was so dead if her mom found out about this. She was trying to pull away from Judy to no avail.

"Do you honestly think that I am not going to tell her?"

"Please Aunt Judy! Please don't tell Mom!" Rachel begged.

Judy let go of Rachel's arm and muttered a "Don't move," and went into Rachel's bathroom to grab the bathrobe she knew was behind the door.

"Put this on. What you have on is extremely inappropriate, however…"

"Can't I take a quick shower and change?" Rachel asked quickly, thinking as she did. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if her mom didn't see her dressed in this outfit, with her hair fixed and her makeup done as it was.

Yea, a shower would fix that…

"No. Your mother needs to see the way that you are dressed. And judging by the fact that she hasn't told me about your new body art and the fact that it is quite red, I am willing to bet she hasn't seen that either.

"We weren't doing anything wrong!" Rachel said, trying to take this in a different direction from the tattoo on her hip. How was she going to fix this? Preferably without getting into trouble.

Judy laughed. "His had a hand in your underwear and up your shirt. We will see what your mother thinks."

Judy handed the bathrobe to Rachel and when the girl didn't tie it at her waist, Judy bent forward and did it for her. She then grabbed Rachel's arm again and headed downstairs.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby picked up the phone as soon as she saw Judy's name flashing on the front.

Leah watched her sister as she finally began putting the food she had cooked into serving dishes. She was shocked when Shelby shouted, "She was what?" and then stood up searching for her keys.

"I'll be there in five minutes." Shelby said and then hung up the phone.

"Sis, what is going on? Where are you going?" Leah said as she watched her sister's mad rampage to find her keys.

"I am going to murder your niece! Where are my damn keys?" Shelby hissed.

Leah leaned over to the key board hanging by the kitchen door and took Shelby's keys off of it.

"Here…what did she do?" Leah had seen Shelby mad, but this…this was something new. Shelby hadn't been this mad when Rachel had sent the F you text.

"She had Noah Puckerman in her room. They were…I actually don't know how far they had gotten. I will come back and get Beth later."

And Shelby was out the door.

Leah almost felt sorry for Rachel.

Almost.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel was sitting in an armchair in the living room, her knees hugged against her chest. She had fixed her short robe to hide her underwear by tucking it around her so that Aunt Judy wouldn't get onto her again. She had listened to Uncle Russ lecture Puck for the last fifteen minutes, and she was steadily growing more nervous because she knew that her mother was on her way home. She had even heard her mom yell through the phone.

And, Aunt Judy wouldn't let her shower or even change before she got there.

Rachel froze when her she heard her mother pull into the driveway. She felt tears begin to prickle her eyes when she heard the front door open and shut. She nearly stopped breathing when her mom came into the living room, her entire body screaming how angry she was.

Rachel was silent. She felt a tear fall down her cheek.

Shelby was shocked. Her child looked like a prostitute. Or a prostitot. Her daughter was only fourteen! It was also the same information that told her that Kurt had been in her house. He was probably also the same one who cut Rachel's bangs. Shelby was all about free expression, but her daughter knew that she had to ask permission before she did anything to her body. Including her hair.

"Rachel Barbra, my room. Now." Shelby said. Shelby turned to stare at Puck who was on the couch. He was still shirtless, as Russ was holding onto his shirt. Russ was red in the face from anger, and Puck looked pale. He was now officially afraid of Russell Fabray.

He really wasn't sure what the hell he had gotten himself into.

"Noah, for future references, if I am not home, you are not welcome in this house. I am sure that the same goes for the Fabray's. Now please leave my home. I will be calling your mother later." Shelby said. Russ threw the boy's shirt at the couch, and Puck grabbed it, pulling the shirt on and running out of the house.

Shelby sighed when she heard the door shut.

"Thanks for coming to check on Rachel. I am sorry that you had to deal with this." Shelby said, rubbing her head in one hand.

"My pleasure." Russ said, making Shelby smile. She knew that he was glad that he had been there because he had gotten to scare Noah Puckerman half to death. Shelby was pretty sure that Noah would not mess with either Quinn or Rachel if he thought the older man would happen to see.

"Well, Shelby, I think we are going to let you have your fun. Russ and I need to go check on Quinn, and you are going to have your hands full." Judy said with a light smirk.

"I am sure that it is going to be a barrel of laughs." Shelby deadpanned.

Russ and Judy walked towards the door and started to walk out when Judy turned around.

"Make sure when you check out the outfit she was wearing when I caught them, that you check out her hip and side." Judy said with a mischievous smile.

Shelby didn't even want to ask. She was sure that she was going to find out soon.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel jumped when her mother came into the room. She had been sitting on the side of her mom's bed nearly hyperventilating. And, now, her mother was here.

"Take the robe off. Judy said that I would love your outfit." Shelby said sarcastically, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.

"I'd rather leave it on." Rachel whispered. She knew that she was fixing to have to take it off, but she wanted to stall as long as she could.

"One."

Rachel looked up at her mother, surprised. This wasn't really a counting moment. Rachel stood up and untied the robe, but kept it clutched in her hands.

"Two." Shelby glared at her daughter. It was all she could do not to walk over to Rachel and jerk the robe off of her, but Rachel was really only making this whole situation harder on herself.

Rachel finally opened the robe and dropped it on the floor. She didn't look at her mother. She wasn't dumb. She knew that you were supposed to make eye contact with angry people. She had seen it on the Animal Planet.

Shelby stared at the way her fourteen year old daughter was dressed. And she was pissed. Her daughter's makeup may have made her look like a prostitute, but so did her clothes. She was wearing panties and a cutoff shirt for goodness sakes!

"That is my shirt." Shelby said then scoffed. Had she really just said that? That was not important right now!

Rachel swallowed. Gah, she was so nervous!

"At least now I know why it was so easy for him to have a hand down the back of your underwear and up your shirt." Shelby said. Rachel's face shot up. She really hadn't thought her mom had known about that.

"Oh yes, Judy filled me in." Shelby said, walking over to her daughter. She grabbed Rachel's right arm and Rachel tensed up but a smack did not come.

No, her mother was peering at the tattoo on her right side. Shelby latched her thumb into the side of Rachel's panties and pulled the side of them down slightly so that she could get a good look at the tattoo on her daughter's hip and side.

"Go take a shower. You have fifteen minutes; I will get your clothes." Rachel merely nodded. She walked into her mother's bathroom and started the shower. There was so much wrong with this picture.

Fifteen minutes later, Rachel was dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt. Her wet hair was hanging down her back and she was fidgeting with her shirt. Shelby was waiting on the bed. She still looked angry.

"On the table downstairs, there is a notebook and a pen. You are going to go down and make me a list of everything that you have done wrong recently. I am going to give you two chances. You will write it once, and I am going to look over it. If there is anything that you have left out, I will give you one more chance, but then after that chance, everything that I know you have done that is not on there, will be considered a lie. Go now."

Rachel walked downstairs, and sure enough, there was the notebook and pen. She sat down and picked up the pen and bent over the paper. She could feel her mother watching her, and it was nerve wracking.

"Can you go somewhere else?" Rachel asked as she wrote the numbers 1-10 on the left side of the paper.

"I do not think, young lady, that you are in any position to be asking me for anything. Tell me, Rachel, what made you think that you were going to be able to get away with everything? You have lied, deceived, and disobeyed every rule I have for you. So, tell me, what made you think that you were going to get away with it?"

Rachel swallowed.

"I am going to write this." Rachel said, ignoring her mother's question and beginning to write. Shelby stayed behind her kid and watched as she wrote. When ten minutes had passed, Shelby was beginning to feel…perturbed. How much had her daughter lied about?

"Here." Rachel said, handing her mother the notebook. She started to walk towards the stairs, but Shelby grabbed her arm and looked at her.

"Get back in that seat." Shelby demanded.

Rachel did as she was told, and then Shelby sat beside her and began to read what was written.

_Mom, I don't understand why you are so angry about all of this. It was just Puck and it wasn't like we were doing anything wrong…I mean, okay, I shouldn't have lied, but we were only making out. We aren't dating, so I didn't really go against the no dating til I am 16 rule, did I?_

_Anyways, here are the rules that I obviously should not have broken:_

_1. The Tattoo_

_2. Lying to you about starting early_

_3. Having Kurt over without permission. I know you know that I can't do my makeup that well without him. _

_4. Stealing your shirt and cutting the bottom of it off. Even if it looks better..._

_5. Taking money out of my savings account for the tattoo_

_6. Forging your signature for the money_

_7. making out with Noah, I guess_

_8. Probably shouldn't have gotten that tattoo…_

_9. Can I add that I am sorry?_

_10. Really sorry?_

Shelby looked at numbers four, seven, eight, nine, and ten and shook her head.

"Are you sure that is it?" Shelby asked. She knew of one more thing that should be on that list, and she wanted to know if Rachel was going to continue to try and hide it.

"Um…" Rachel was trying to think. She really couldn't think of anything else.

"Go get your purse for me." Shelby said.

Rachel's eyes grew big. Oh yea. She had forgotten about that. As if by some invisible force, Rachel went into the hallway where her purse was and brought it back to Shelby.

"Give it to me."

Rachel swallowed. Shit. This sucked!

Rachel dug into her purse and then her wallet, and pulled out the fake id that she had hidden behind her identification card.

Shelby took it and looked at it, then looked up at Rachel.

"Barbra Starr?" Shelby said incredulously.

Rachel didn't say a word. She knew that her mom didn't want any answers. She had them all.

"Go back up to my room. We are going to settle this now, and then we are going back to Aunt Leah's." Shelby said. Rachel's eyes shot up.

"What are you going to do?"

Shelby stared at her daughter. Did she really just ask that?

"You are getting a spanking. Fight me on it, and you will get one tomorrow too." Shelby was through playing games with her daughter. It was obvious that Rachel was saying things to her face, but doing something completely different behind her back. That ended today.

"Come on." Shelby said, and started walking towards the stairs.

"If you are not on your way up to my room in the next two seconds, you are going to regret it." Shelby said as she walked up the stairs and never turned around.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel stared at the doorway of her mother's room. She was fixing to get it. She knew that she wasn't going to make it away with only three or four swats this time. There was no way.

She slowly walked into the room and walked over to her mom who was sitting on the bed.

Shelby took Rachel's forearm and pulled her between her legs, an action that really made Rachel feel like a little kid.

"Rachel, I am very disappointed in you. I no longer trust you, and in the upcoming days, we will be talking…a lot. You were here, alone, with Noah Puckerman, practically having sex in your bedroom. You are fourteen years old, Rachel! You have lied, forged, stole. I do not know what you were thinking, but I am through. Things around here are going to change."

"We weren't having sex! And we aren't dating so…"

"Rachel, he had his hand on your bare behind doing lord knows what, and his other up your shirt fondling you! I repeat, you are fourteen years old and you will not behave this way. Do you understand me?"

Tears pricked at Rachel's eyes but she nodded.

"Verbal answer."

"Yes ma'am." Rachel whispered.

"And that tattoo. Rachel, you have never even told me that you wanted one, but getting one and hiding it was wrong…"

"Like you would have let me get one!" Rachel said.

Shelby shook her head.

"Perhaps not now, when you are only fourteen, but maybe in two years when you turned sixteen, I might have. Not one as large as you got and not on your hip, but I very well could have been talked into allowing you to get a smaller one on your sixteenth birthday."

That admission both shocked and made Rachel feel bad about going behind her mom's back. Really bad.

"See, I am not always the bad guy Rach. I told you just last night, that no matter what you did or do, that I will always be there for you. That is true now as well. I am fixing to spank you. I hope that it makes an impression on you. Then we are going to Leah's house. You have lost your door for the foreseeable future. You are also going to have to gain my trust back, because currently I can't leave you at the house alone because I can't trust you enough to know that you aren't bringing boys in here or something else that you know that you are not supposed to be doing. Rachel, trust is easy to lose, but it is hard to earn back."

By now, Rachel was in tears. She really was upset, and she was wishing that she could take everything back.

"I can't erase anything now." Rachel whispered.

"No, baby, you can't. You are just going to have to muddle through it all. We will get through it. It will be hard, but we can do it. Now, come on, let's get this over with."

Rachel went to her mother's side, and Shelby pulled her over her lap. As soon as Shelby had her in place, she pulled Rachel's pants and panties down, causing Rachel to reach back.

"Please don't, Mama." Rachel begged. Shelby removed Rachel's hands, "Do not reach back again, or I will smack your hands." Rachel was warned. Rachel moved her hands around and held onto her mother's leg. She knew that if she reached back again her mom would smack both of her hands like a little kid and then hold them out of the way so that she didn't accidently hit them when she was spanking Rachel.

The first couple of smacks shocked Rachel. It had been a while since she had had a real spanking.

Like a really long time.

The next few smacks had Rachel wondering why she had thought having Noah over without permission and dressing like a skank had been a good idea. It most certainly was not a good idea now.

The swats after that seemed to sting more because they were all starting to build up. She slightly wished that her mom would lecture so that it would take her mind off of the spanking at hand.

Rachel grunted. Gah, her ass was really starting to sting, and she was pretty sure that her mom wasn't nearly finished.

Shelby was raining well placed, methodical smacks on her daughter bare behind. She didn't want to do it. In fact she hated having to punish her daughter this way. But it was necessary. She had tried grounding Rachel and she had tried giving her a few swats.

But, tonight, she had stepped way out of line. And Shelby was beginning to see that she wasn't sure that Rachel had been being truthful to her about how sorry she was about the things that she had been doing recently.

Oh, she knew that Rachel was upset about the slushies. She knew that Rachel had been truthful about that, but what Shelby didn't know was why Rachel had felt that making out with Puckerman the way she had would make things even with Quinn. Shelby was sure that she didn't know the entire story, and even though she knew she needed to know it, she wasn't sure she wanted too.

A couple more smacks and Rachel was really crying, but she was doing her best to kick off of her mother's lap. Shelby was a well practiced disciplinarian though, and she had a tight hold her daughter.

"I am disappointed, Rachel. You have to realize that your actions have consequences. You have to learn that lying to me is never going to work, and you have to understand that I know what is best for you. You have lied, cheated, stole, forged, and a number of other things…."

Rachel was sobbing, and while she was listening to her mother, she was thinking more about the fact that her spanking was almost done. Her mother always lectured the last ten swats or so.

Then Rachel was tipped forward, to Shelby's right, and Rachel cringed. Shit. This was going to suck.

Shelby, for the last few swats or so, tilted Rachel so that she could easily smack Rachel's sit spots. She wanted to make sure that Rachel felt this spanking for the next day or so, and she wanted her to feel it when she sat down. If a well earned spanking allowed Rachel to think before she acted, then it would be worth it. And Shelby felt that Rachel would learn from it. Because if she didn't, Shelby would ensure the girl that she would make the next one even harder.

The last few smacks were the hardest by far, but Rachel just gave in and let them come. And then it was over. Shelby stood Rachel up in front of her and stood up in front of her so that she could wrap her daughter in her arms. Rachel sobbed into her mother's shirt and wrapped her hands in the hem of Shelby's shirt, murmuring several 'I am sorries' and 'I'll be good's'. Shelby rubbed her back and then, moving her around slightly so that she could lay her on the bed, stomach down. Rachel was still sobbing, and started to pull her underwear up as much as she didn't want to. She didn't want her mom getting any ideas though, because she was sore enough.

Rachel really didn't realize how false that statement was. Shelby hated punishing her daughter so harshly. She would do everything she could not to swat the girl again in the next few days. If only Rachel would behave.

"Leave them down. I want to look at that tattoo and put some lotion on it." Shelby said, getting up and walking into her bathroom to retrieve some unscented lotion that she had to use on Beth because of the little girl's sensitive skin.

Shelby walked back and sat on the bed, gently lifting Rachel's upper body and putting it on her lap. Shelby squirted some of the lotion onto her hand and gently massaged onto the skin where Rachel's tattoo was.

"Do you at least like what I chose?" Rachel sniffed. She was still crying, tears and snot covering her face. She wiped her face and nose on Shelby's shirt and Shelby grimaced. One would think that at fourteen, that a child would be over that stage.

"Well, yes. I do like what you chose. I do, however, think that it is too large. I also believe that you are too young. If you ever get another, I had better learn about it before hand, and it will not happen until you are at least eighteen. I was serious earlier when I said that I would have okayed one when you turned sixteen, Rachel. I would have taken you after you thought long and hard about what you wanted and where. But doing this without permission is not okay. The next time you do something like this, I will not be this easy on you."

"There is never going to be a next time, Mama." Rachel whimpered. Shelby rolled her eyes. There would be a next time, and there would probably be a time after that. There would be trouble.

"We still have to talk about you bringing Puck over here though, Rach. That was not okay. The makeup, the hair, the clothes. None of that was okay. Sex is not a game…"

"Mama, I told him that we were most certainly not going to do…that." Rachel blushed. Shelby patted her back.

"Baby, I know that you do not understand this, but sex is never that simple. Sex is complicated and complex. Even more so when you are young. I don't want you to make that mistake. You are still a little girl, Rachel. I know that you want to be grown up, but it is not always what it is cracked up to be, baby. You need to stop trying to grow up so fast, love."

Rachel listened to her mother and nodded.

"I didn't want to feel like a loser anymore." Rachel whispered.

Shelby sighed. It hurt so much that her child felt that way about herself.

"Baby, you are not a loser. You are so far from that. But sex is not the answer to something like this. Ever. You cannot make yourself feel better by being sexually active. I cannot let you start down a road like that."

"I'm not, Mama. I don't want you to ever be disappointed in me again. I want you to be able to trust me."

Shelby rubbed Rachel's back, "You know that I love you, right, Rachel?"

"Yea, I know that." Rachel said. She did. She knew that if no one else in the world loved her, her mom did. Even if she was still mad about the surrogacy, she had always known that she was loved. It hadn't meant that she had not felt unwanted. Because she had. It was complicated in her fourteen year old mind.

"Then believe me, while today I was disappointed in your actions, and I lost the trust I had in you, I am not disappoint in _you_. Only your actions. And my trust, you will be able to gain that back, I promise."

Rachel let out the first smile since her Aunt Judy had caught her earlier.

Shelby was finished rubbing in the lotion in, and she gently pulled Rachel's panties up. So different than the white, sexy panties she had had on earlier, these had SpongeBob on them, a secret love of Rachel's that only Shelby really knew about.

"Let me change my shirt, and then we will go to Aunt Leah's." Shelby said. Rachel nodded and stood up slowly, then turned and hugged her mother, then went to get her shoes on while her mom went through her drawers looking for a shirt to put on to replace the one that now had traces of Rachel's crying on it.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

The ride to Leah's had been miserable for Rachel. Her mother had patted her hand almost the entire way there sympathetically, while Rachel squirmed. Shelby hadn't really wanted to make her sit that long, but she was not going to leave Rachel at home.

Besides, Leah was making Rachel's favorite for supper since they had had a heavy lunch, Grilled cheese and turkey sandwiches with tomato basil soup. It would comfort Rachel a little.

They walked into the house and Beth and Elijah were both playing on the Wii. Still. Shelby rolled her eyes at her sister as if to say, "Really?"

Leah shrugged and then looked at Rachel who was making it a point not to sit down.

"Hey, Rach. How you doing, Squirt?" Leah asked.

"Okay." Rachel mumbled. She was embarrassed about everything and she knew without anyone telling her Aunt Leah, that the older woman knew that she had been punished.

Rachel followed her Mom and Aunt Leah into the kitchen where Leah fixed Rachel a tall glass of ice, and then poured Mountain Dew in the glass. Rachel did smile from that. She wasn't normally allowed to have the drink. Her mom barely let her have any soda.

Shelby rolled her eyes again at her sister's gesture. She knew that Leah was trying to make Rachel feel better, and so Shelby didn't say a word.

"Mommy! You are back!" Beth said, just realizing that her mother and sister had came into the house. She had really been sucked into that game.

"Yes, I am back. I brought sister back." Shelby said, nodding towards Rachel. Beth looked at Rachel with a scrutinizing gaze.

Then noticed that Rachel flinched when leaned against the wall.

So Beth burst out laughing.

"Sister got a spanking! What did you do? Bet it was real bad cause Mommy never spanks you unless it is real real real real real bad!" Beth laughed and pointed at her older sister.

Rachel blushed. Trust her little sister to just blurt it out like that. And think that it is funny. Rachel rubbed her head. She felt a raging headache coming on.

"Elizabeth Francine Cocoran!" Shelby hissed.

Beth looked up at her mother and stepped back.

"What? She did! She musta been real bad. Cause she don't learn. Ain't that right, Mommy. I heard you say that to Aunt Leah one day." Beth said, trying to point out that she was telling the truth.

"And some things we do not talk about. Tell Sister that you are sorry for making fun of her."

"Sorry, Sister." Beth mumbled, staring at her feet. She didn't know why she was in trouble. Rachel was the one that obviously got the spanking.

"Now, come with me. You are going to stand in the corner of Aunt Leah's guest room for five minutes." Shelby said. Shelby saw Leah walk over to Rachel and wrap the girl in a hug out of the corner of her eye. Shelby took Beth's hand and led her towards the stairs, but not before turning around and telling Rachel:

"Rachie, baby, make sure that you show Aunt Leah your new body art." Shelby said.

Rachel blushed. Her mother was not subtle. At all.

Without having to be prompted, Rachel looked around to make sure that her uncle and cousin were still in the living room, Rachel pulled the right side of her pants off of her hip. She may have gotten in trouble for it, but she was still quite proud of the artwork on her body.

Leah was shocked.

"Well, I didn't expect that one, Squirt." Leah said and laughed. Rachel blushed and smiled shyly. She knew that her aunt would like it.

The woman had a huge tattoo on her back of a cross, and it had Elijah, Beth, and Rachel's names around it. Leah would appreciate the artwork whereas her mother, who had no tattoos, couldn't.

"Come on, my little trouble maker, let's start pealing tomatoes."

Rachel walked over to the sink and turn on the water. The day may have not went as well as she had planned, but overall, it had definitely been okay, punishment and all.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Just get out of my damn apartment and take your damned brat with you! I know you don't love me! You still moan _his _name at night when you are asleep! Get your shit and go!"

The woman quickly grabbed what little she and her daughter had, and then picked her her crying child.

And then left. They really didn't have anywhere to go.

Well there was one place. Somewhere she had vowed to never go back too.

But she knew that she didn't have a choice anymore. They needed a roof over their heads.

* * *

**AN: Well? Thoughts? Anyone have any thoughts about what is coming up next?**

**I had something that I really wanted to say, but for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was. I hope that you liked this chapter. Let me know what you think. **


	12. Relapses and Surprises

**Chapter Twelve: Relapses and Surprises**

Rachel went to bed that night with a still sore behind and a headache that had never really gone away at her aunt and uncle's house. Right before she had gone to bed, her mom had come in and talked to her as she was apt to do every night. She told Rachel that she was grounded from friends until the next Saturday, and that she would get her iPod and phone back on the same day. Rachel was glad that it was nothing more than that, and she knew that she deserved probably more than she got if she thought about it enough.

Shelby felt that her spanking was really punishment enough for this incident. She had told Rachel that they would be talking more about the things that she had done and what she should have done differently, but Shelby wasn't going to punish her more harshly than she needed too. The only reason that she had even grounded her was so that they would have time to talk about things, and Shelby had told Rachel as much. They had a lot to talk about and Shelby did not want Rachel trying to go places during the week.

It was all a thing of balance, and Shelby had learned that as soon as Rachel had been old enough to know what the word 'no' meant. Rachel had always been an inquisitive child and she liked to know how things worked and had a bad habit about getting into things that she really had no business in.

Shelby always liked to bring up a time when Rachel had been four nearly five, only a little younger than Beth was now. Shelby had been sick with a nasty cold for several days and Rachel had started getting clingy when she realized that her mom was sick. Rachel had always been a clingy child, a mama's girl, but it was over the top even for her, Shelby noted.

It had only been about three months since Katherine Hummel had found out that she was sick and would be lucky to make it to her son's next birthday, and Shelby had sat Rachel down and explained to her why her friend was so sad all of the time suddenly. It was a harsh lesson for the little girl to take, both to realize that a woman that Rachel loved was not going to live much longer, and that her friend was going to lose his mommy.

When Shelby had tried to get Rachel to lay down to take a nap, Shelby had had to lay with the little girl. Shelby fell asleep much faster than she had expected, and Rachel, who hadn't wanted to take a nap, had gotten up, and looked for something to do.

Shelby was soon to find out that a curious Rachel was a dangerous Rachel. The little girl had gone down stairs and decided that she would fix her mommy breakfast. Shelby had just recently taken the baby gates down from the stairs because Rachel had taken to trying to climb over them. She had thought about getting taller ones so that Rachel couldn't do that, but she hadn't yet.

Rachel wasn't allowed to use the stove, but her mommy had been letting her use the toaster and microwave if she was there to help. She had heard Aunt Leah say that it was important to eat if you were sick. So, Rachel was going to fix her mommy something to eat.

First, little Rachel had gotten eggs and butter out of the fridge. Rachel didn't really like eggs, but her mommy did. She was pretty sure that she could cook them in the microwave. Then she had promptly dropped the eggs on the floor when her hand slipped off of the carton. Rachel then decided to leave the eggs, or rather the mess, for later, and went to get jelly out of the fridge. She could make toast!

Rachel pulled a kitchen chair over to where the toaster sat and then got the bread out of the pantry. She pulled out four slices and put it in the toaster, remembering when her mommy had bought the toaster. She had said it was so their breakfast would always be finished at the same time.

Rachel left the toast and turned it all the way over to the highest number before she pushed the toast down.

She then went to get the milk and orange juice out of the fridge because she didn't know how to work the coffee maker.

Rachel tried to pull both the orange juice and milk out of the fridge at the same time, but what she hadn't counted on was slipping in the egg. When she slipped in the egg the top to the milk flew off going who knows where and then all of a sudden the smoke alarm went off.

Upstairs, Shelby was jolted awake when the alarm went off. When she looked over and didn't see Rachel, she panicked. She jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs where the alarm was going off and smoke was starting to form.

When she got to the kitchen, she just froze.

There her four year old was in the midst of milk, juice, and what looked to be eggs. And smoke was billowing out of the toaster.

Shelby made quick work of unplugging the toaster and then putting her hands on her hips to stare down at her daughter.

"I was making you food, Mommy." Rachel had said, her bottom lip trembling. It melted Shelby's heart, but it was in that moment that she knew she had to remain stern with her daughter. She could have easily caught the house on fire or been seriously hurt.

That was the first real spanking that Rachel Barbra Corcoran had ever gotten because Shelby had realized that if she didn't take control, her darling daughter was going to run the show, and that simply was not happening. Five whole swats that had really hurt Rachel's feelings.

Rachel had been adamant that she would never play or try to cook in the kitchen again without her mommy. Later that night, Rachel had told Shelby why she had been fixing food for her. She wanted her mommy to get better, and she didn't want her mommy to leave her like Kurt's mommy was going to have to leave him one day. Shelby had been able to say nothing except that she would try her best to never leave Rachel as she cuddled the little girl on her lap for over an hour. After that, she tried to cook with Rachel at least once a week. It allowed them to do something together, and it would ensure that Rachel wasn't afraid to go into the kitchen and cook when she was older because she had gotten in trouble once upon a time.

Thinking back to that time was always bittersweet for Shelby. Her baby was fourteen now and oh how Shelby was sad to see her growing up so quickly. In December she would be fifteen, and then in January Beth would be six. Shelby often wished that she could put the girls in a deaging machine. Or freeze time. Simply so they couldn't grow.

"What are you thinking about, Mommy?" Rachel mumbled, her eyes closed, her hands patting around trying to find the edge of Shelby's shirt. Shelby realized that Rachel really was nearly asleep because Rachel rarely called her mommy any other time.

"When you were four and tried to cook me food."

"Oh. I got a spanking for that." Rachel whispered, finally putting her hand under Shelby's shirt and clutching a hand full of the fabric in her fist.

"Yes, you did. You made quite a mess. I am going to go to bed, baby. I love you." Shelby said, bending down and kissing Rachel and rubbing her back until she fell completely asleep so that she could pull her shirt out of Rachel's hand. Shelby shook her head with a smile. That was always one thing that told her that Rachel was still her baby because the girl was comforted by holding onto the edge of her shirt. Shelby pulled the blankets that were at Rachel's feet up over her bare legs. Rachel only ever slept in her pink star pajama bottoms and if they were dirty she didn't sleep in any pants. Shelby also figured that part of it was due to the fact that she had a sore behind and the tattoo on her hip had started to itch so Rachel was keeping everything away from it if she could.

Soon, Shelby went in and checked on Beth. The girl was asleep, her thumb in her mouth. Shelby laughed silently and gently took the thumb out of Beth's mouth, kissing her head, and tucking the blankets closer around her.

It was Shelby's turn to go to bed, and she fell into a peaceful slumber.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel felt horrible the next morning. Her head was splitting and her stomach seemed to want to revolt. She had been feeling so much better, that it surprised her when she woke up. To top all that off, her behind still ached a bit, a constant reminder that she had really messed up over the weekend. Like, really had messed up. But she wasn't worried about that now as she slowly got ready for school after her mother woke her up and then went down to breakfast where her little sister was smashing her normal scrambled eggs in between two pieces of toast which were already dripping with butter and strawberry jam.

"Beth, that is revolting." Rachel said as she sat down and her mom handed her a plate with two pieces of toast on it and a coffee mug full of apple juice.

"Don't look at it then." Beth said, mimicking what their mother told Rachel every time that she committed on Beth's eating habits. Rachel was the opposite of Beth really, when it came to food. She didn't like her food to touch at all and often smelled it before she ate it to make sure that it smelled the way it was supposed to. What Beth did was shove it down her throat like a human garbage disposal.

"Rachel, baby, please leave your sister alone. Do you have all of your stuff ready for school?"

"Yea, I got it all together last night." Rachel said, drinking her juice, but not eating her toast when she felt her stomach cramp.

"Mom, I am not really hungry, I am going to go grab something from my room." Rachel said, then got up and quickly made her way up the stairs.

Shelby watched her and then looked at the uneaten toast. Rachel seldom went without eating breakfast, but Shelby didn't question her when she did because it was such a rare thing.

Upstairs, Rachel was throwing up the apple juice she had just drank as quietly as she could, tears coursing down her eyes. She felt just like she had the previous week when she had gotten sick. She refused to be sick because being sick sucked. She was well. She had just gotten well the like barely three days before.

Yep, she was not sick, she thought.

Then she threw up again.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby kept her eyes open for three kids during school. Tess Peters, Noah Puckerman, and Kurt.

Shelby didn't see Tess Peters until lunch time. In that time, Shelby made sure to give her a look. It was a look that she was famous for, and had literally made some of her freshman students cry every year. This year was no exceptions.

In fact, Tess Peters had been one of those freshman three years previously. So, Tess knew that look. She cringed when she saw it, and then wanted to run when Ms. Corcoran walked towards her. Shit. She really shouldn't have started all those rumors last Friday.

Ms. Corcoran stopped by the girl, who cringed, and said, "I _will_ be watching you, Miss Peters," and then walked off.

Tess Peters knew that she would never be throwing another slushie at Rachel Corcoran. Not if she wanted to graduated. There were some people that you just did not piss off at McKinley High. Tess was only afraid of two of them: Sue Sylvester and Shelby Corcoran.

Shelby merely continued to walk down the hallway, a smirk planted firmly on her face.

Until she saw Noah Puckerman.

"Mr. Puckerman. My office. Now."

The boy instantly paled, but followed her immediately. He had almost skipped school that day, but his probation officer was coming sometime this week, and he couldn't chance it. Puck had known that he was going to have to face Ms. Corcoran eventually, but he had really hoped that it wouldn't be too soon. Even his Ma was mad that he had been over at the Corcoran house without an adult, and she knew how he was. But she had lectured him for nearly an hour after Ms. Corcoran called the night before to explain what the Fabray's had walked in on. Puck didn't even want to start thinking about Mr. Fabray. That man was scary! Puck was pretty sure that he would never try to get into the pants of Quinn Fabray or Rachel Corcoran again. That man had promised way too much pain if he found out about it.

And Noah had been so sure that, despite what Rachel had told him before they had started making out, that he was going to get to sleep with her the day before.

Of course, it was a good thing that hadn't got that far. He was pretty sure that Mr. Fabray would have killed him and hid the body where no one could ever find it. Mr. Fabray seemed the type to have friends in high places…and low…who would get the job done if necessary. Yes, Puck was pretty sure that he did not want to go up against Mr. Fabray anytime soon.

In Ms. Corcoran's office, Puck sat in a chair that was in front of her desk. He was sweating and felt sick to his stomach all of a sudden. This was not going to end well.

"Mr. Puckerman, I brought you in here today to stress a few issues with you. The first, _Mr._ Puckerman, is that I know that you are sixteen years old, seventeen in several months. However, my daughter is fourteen. And Quinn, who I happen to know you have also taken a slight liking to, just turned fifteen a short time ago. One of them is my daughter, and the other is my niece. I love them both dearly, Mr. Puckerman, and I do not take kindly to those who hurt the ones I love. Do you understand me, Mr. Puckerman?" Shelby said in a low, steely voice.

Puck nodded. He was never going to mess with those girls again. He had a feeling that the woman in front of him might actually be worse than Mr. Fabray…and that was saying something.

"Now, Mr. Puckerman, you may speak to them, you may ask them how their day is going. You will be cordial. But you will not kiss, flirt, make out, or fondle them. Fourteen is still young, and what you did yesterday was not okay. Do you understand me, _Mr. Puckerman_?"

Puck swallowed. His throat was so dry.

"Y-y-yes, Ms. Corcoran." He wanted to keep his body intact, thank you very much.

"Good. Now get out of my sight."

Puck didn't need to be told twice. He jumped up and ran out of the room.

Straight into the bathroom where he could throw up. His stomach was killing him and he was pretty sure he had a fever.

Ms. Corcoran had just cursed him! He knew that woman was a witch, but damn!

Slowly, Puck found his way to the nurse's office, where less than an hour later, his mom picked him up to take him home because of his 102.1 fever.

Noah Puckerman was going to be nothing but polite in the presence of Ms. Corcoran from now on.

Shelby never did come across Kurt, even after Glee. Unbeknownst to her, Rachel had told Kurt early that morning to avoid her mother at all costs. She had him in class, but obviously could not talk to him in there and as soon as the bell rang, he disappeared again.

She would talk to him later.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

On the ride home after Glee, Rachel was quiet. Shelby had noticed that first off. She didn't talk about her day or anything at all. She also looked flushed.

"Are you feeling okay, Rach?" Shelby asked. The doctor had told her that relapses were very common with the virus that Rachel had had the previous week. About ninety percent of the people coming through the hospital and doctors offices with the virus relapsed after feeling okay for two or three days.

"Yea. I just have a bit of a headache." Rachel said.

"Is there anything in particular that you want for supper?"

Rachel thought for a minute. She wasn't hungry. At all.

"Cheeseburgers." Rachel told her. Shelby narrowed her eyes.

"You don't like cheeseburgers."

"No, but Bethie does, and I am not hungry."

Shelby reached over and touched Rachel's forehead.

"You are a little warm. When we get home I want to take your temperature."

"Mom, I am fine." Rachel said, leaning her head on glass of the window. Shelby looked in the rearview mirror and noticed that Beth was asleep. That child could fall asleep faster in a moving vehicle than anyone Shelby knew.

"I'd still like to check." Shelby said as she pulled into the driveway. Rachel nodded. She didn't feel like fighting her mom on this one because she was feeling kind of bad. Worse than she had all day.

Shelby woke up Beth and helped her walk inside. Once in the house, Rachel went over to the couch and laid down, putting her book bag on the floor and throwing her arm over her eyes.

"Beth, you want to eat cheeseburgers for supper?" Shelby asked. They didn't eat them nearly as often as Beth would like.

"Yea!" Beth said, excited.

"Okay, sweetheart, go up to your room and change your clothes and you can help me cook supper."

This excited Beth. Just as Rachel had loved to help in the kitchen when she was small, and really still did, so did Beth. It was one of the things that the sisters had in common.

Shelby went over to the couch and sat on the edge of it at Rachel's waist, so that she could lean over and feel Rachel's head.

"Can you tell me what doesn't feel good?" Shelby asked her, pulling her arm gently away from her head.

"A lot. I kinda feel like I did the other day."

"Have you felt this way all day?"

"Not this bad." Rachel said.

"I am going to run upstairs and get the thermometer. I will be right back."

Rachel nodded and closed her eyes. She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she realized was Shelby lifting up her shirt to take her temperature under her arm. Shelby usually didn't trust taking her kids' temperature under the arm, but she hadn't wanted to wake up Rachel.

Rachel kept her eyes closed, and then she heard the thermometer beep.

"Do I got any?" Rachel murmured. She was so sleepy.

"Yes. 101.9. I am going to get you some aspirin." Shelby said and stood up to walk into the kitchen to get the medicine and some juice.

Going back in the living room, Shelby helped Rachel sit up and take the medicine and then lay down.

Rachel tried to take deep breaths so that she could keep the medicine down. She had to. She was fourteen, and at fourteen you were supposed to have better control of yourself. She just knew that she couldn't move or she would throw up for real.

Suddenly her stomach spasmed.

"Mama!" Rachel said as loudly as she could. Shelby walked back into the living room.

Just in time to watch Rachel lean over and vomit on the hardwood floor, barely missing the rug that was under the coffee table.

Then she promptly burst into tears.

"I am so-s-so-sorry!" She sobbed. Her head hurt so badly and now her stomach was hurting more.

"Shh…it is okay, baby. I will clean that up and it will be as if nothing happened. Just lie there and calm down." Shelby said as she walked into the kitchen to grab some towels and disinfectant.

Then the doorbell rang.

Great. Just what she needed when her child had just thrown up all over the floor.

Shelby, with the towels and disinfectant in hand, went and opened the door.

Only to be attacked by a sobbing Quinn Fabray throwing a duffel bag on the floor and her arms around Shelby's waist. Shelby automatically wrapped her arms around Quinn and held her.

"Quinnie, what is wrong?" Shelby asked as she held the sobbing girl.

"I am not going back there! You can't make me." Quinn cried.

"Why?"

"Frannie! Frannie is back! Aunt Shell, she is back and she has another kid!" Quinn cried into Shelby's shirt.

Shelby just stood there. Speechless.

And, in the pit of her stomach, Shelby knew that something was wrong with that entire picture.

* * *

**AN: Not my best, but passable, I think. Let me know:) This may be the last update for a few days because I have to go out of town...and I have to do homework. But, I will try to update if I can.**

** Rachel's tattoo is musical notes on lines as if it were sheet music (I cannot remember what that is called) and it is all twisted. I posted a pic of her tattoo (as a graphic piece, not as an actual tattoo on anyone) on my photobucket account. The link is on my profile. **


	13. Frannie

**Chapter Thirteen: Frannie**

Judy Fabray's life had become consistent and unchanging over the past few years. She got up every morning and she made breakfast for her husband and daughter, and anyone else who might be staying with them such as Rachel or Beth.

After breakfast, she would kiss her husband good-bye and then push Quinn towards the stairs so that she could get ready for school. Once Quinn was ready, she would drive her there, kissing her cheek and dropping her off at five until eight in the morning so that she would not be late to her first class.

At home, Judy would go about her day cleaning or making plans. She would do laundry if it needed to be done and, with fifteen year old Quinn in the house, laundry always needed to be done. She had no idea how the girl was able to use so many towels. The only person that was capable of using more towels than Quinn was Rachel.

By the time four rolled around, Judy would start supper so that by the time that Quinn and Russell got home, the food would just about be ready.

Today things had not been usual though.

At three fifty, when Judy was merely thinking about making Quinn's favorite fried potatoes and Russell's favorite baked chicken, the door bell rang.

Judy walked to the front door and opened it with a "Hello" before she really noticed who was at the door. Judy noticed the little girl first. Her eyes were dark brown and her hair had some of the messiest curls that Judy had ever seen. There was something familiar about her, but Judy could not place it. Then Judy looked up.

"Frannie." Judy whispered, her eyes wide.

"Hello, Mother." Frannie said, pushing the little girl towards the door.

"What…what. I am so glad that you are here!" Judy said, opening the door wider. She had missed her daughter terribly and she had always blamed herself for her leaving. Had Beth not gone to such a good home, she would have blamed herself for that as well. But, she also got to be a part of Beth's life.

"Who is this little girl?" Judy asked. She had such an unfamiliar look in her mixed with something vaguely familiar that Judy still could not place…

"Her name is Wilde. She is my kid." Frannie said. Judy's eyes grew.

"Wilde, say hello to Grandma." Frannie instructed pointedly.

"Hello, Granma." The little girl whispered, trying to back up behind Frannie's leg.

"No, Wilde. We do not hide." Frannie said as she pulled the girl back in front of her.

Judy knelt down and looked the little girl in the eye. "I have some toys upstairs. Would you like to go play with them while your mommy and I talk?"

The little girl nodded.

Judy looked up at Frannie, and then motioned for them both to follow her. She was going to let the little girl in Beth's room to play. Normally, she wouldn't unless Beth was there, but she could see the little girl was frightened about being around strangers so being able to play with some of the toys Beth had up there would probably help with her nervousness.

They walked up the stairs, Frannie wondering slightly where they were going and why there would be toys up here. The only rooms up here besides her own and Quinn's were several guest bedrooms. Of course it had been five years since she had been in the home of her parents.

That was when she saw it. On one door she saw the name Rachel created in golden stars…on Quinn's in bright neon pink letters…and on another door, the door Judy was opening, in glitter letter's was spelled out in a name that shocked Frannie: Beth.

Frannie automatically grew angry. She could feel her heart race, and her head feel like it was swimming. Her other kid, the kid she most certainly had not wanted, lived here? No! She was not supposed to have ANYTHING to do with her parents

"What the hell is going on?" Frannie asked angrily, grabbing Wilde's arm and staring at her mother; but Judy didn't know what Frannie meant.

"You were never supposed to be a part of _her_ life!" Frannie yelled, noticing the pictures in the hallways.

Her kid. Her firstborn.

"I told her! I told Shelby Corcoran that you were not to see her!"

"What are you doing here?" a new voice shouted. Quinn. She looked at her mother. Her sister. The little girl by her sister, "Who is the kid?"

"Quinnie…" Frannie said, letting go of Wilde and reaching out to touch her little sister's hair.

Quinn jerked back.

"Don't touch me! You do not get to touch me! You left us! You only cared about yourself! I hate you, Francine!"

Quinn ran into her room, slamming the door behind her to pack her duffel bag.

Then she left the house without saying anything to anyone.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

As Shelby cleaned up the vomit on the floor in the living room, she listened to Quinn cry and tell her all of the reasons that she didn't want Frannie back.

She had repeated the list,1. Frannie is selfish, 2. Frannie never should have left, and 3. Frannie only thought about herself and no one else, eight times since she had walked through the door.

Then Rachel started vomiting in the wastebasket that Shelby had placed beside her and shaking uncontrollably.

"Quinn, will you go grab Rachel's blanket off of her bed. The fuzzy one."

"But, Aunt Shell, I need to talk to you!" Quinn said, standing up slowly from the chair where she had been sitting.

Rachel bent over and dry heaved into the waste basket, her body shaking from the cold chills that she was getting. Shelby rushed over to her and rubbed her back, brushing her new bangs away from her forehead.

"Quinn, do not make me ask again. You can talk to me when you come back down." Shelby told the blonde girl. Quinn sighed deeply, but went and did as she was told.

Just then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Quinn yelled. Shelby sighed. The attention span of a gnat that girl had sometimes. Shelby wasn't able to think about it long because Beth came down the steps after changing her clothes and looked at Shelby expectantly.

"I am ready to cook, Mommy!"

Rachel leaned over again and threw up.

Quinn walked in with Kurt, both talking loudly. Shelby wasn't quite sure what was being said, but Kurt definitely was demanding to know why Quinn was in the house when she and Rachel had been fighting.

"I am hungry, Mommy, let's cook!"

"I had to tell Rachel about what Finn told me after school…" Kurt was saying when Quinn asked why he was there as well.

Shelby felt like her head was going to explode with all of the activity going on around her.

"Quiet!" she yelled, "Beth, go pick out a takeout menu, whatever you want, and we will get food from there. Kurt, sit in that chair, you and I have some things to talk about before you leave" Shelby pointed, "Quinn, if you don't go get me that blanket like I told you, I am going to swat you."

Everyone was silent, and then, in a mad rush, they all did as they were told.

"Mama…" Rachel whined, her eyes closed, her hand searching for her mother. She didn't feel good at all. She wanted everyone to shut the hell up and be quiet so her mom could take care of her.

"I am right here, baby. But you are going to have to hold on just a moment." Shelby said, patting her daughter's arm.

"Kurt, why are you here?" Shelby asked gently. They both knew that she wasn't being mean because the boy was allowed there whenever he wanted as long as he had permission. He normally didn't just show up. Of course, Quinn normally didn't just show up either.

"I came to tell Rachel that Puck thinks you cursed him today because as soon as he left your office he got sick and his mom had to come to the school and get him."

It took everything Shelby had in her to school her facial features. Noah Puckerman thought that she had cursed him.

Excellent.

"That is part of what you and I need to speak about, young man. Did you get a tattoo the other day?" She asked him.

Kurt's eyes grew wide. Rachel had warned him that she had gotten caught with Puck, but he hadn't even thought about her getting caught with the tattoo on her hip.

"No ma'am." Kurt said quickly.

"You did know that Noah was coming over here, though, didn't you? You cut Rachel's hair and did her makeup."

Kurt nodded. He couldn't lie. Rachel never would have been able to do her own makeup the way he had.

"You know my rules, Kurt. You know that I must know that you are here if I am not home, and you know that Rachel is not allowed to change anything about her body without permission. Including tattoos and her hair."

"I am sorry, Auntie Shell." Kurt whispered.

At that time Quinn came back down the stairs and threw the blanket she had gotten at the couch. She then sat down in a chair and crossed her arms.

"Lose the attitude, Miss Fabray." Shelby said as she covered Rachel up with the blanket.

"I don't have an attitude! I am just thinking about Frannie! She had a freakin' kid, Aunt Shell! She didn't even keep the first one!"

"Watch it, Lucy Quinn Fabray!" Shelby hissed. While Beth knew that she was adopted and hadn't been born from Shelby the way that Rachel had, she didn't understand the specifics yet. And little miss Quinn was not going to be the one to tell her.

Beth came back in at that time and handed her mommy the menu to a burger joint. Shelby smiled at her and nodded.

"I promise that we will cook together sometime this week, sweet pea. Sister isn't feeling good again."

"And Kurt and Quinn is here and they aren't supposed to be. Make them go home." Beth said, quietly, crawling up on her mother's lap. She knew that her sister wasn't feeling good, and everyone was being so loud.

"Hush. Why don't you go play the Wii? Since we can't cook together, you can do that instead." Shelby said. Beth jumped up, a huge smile on her face. She never got to play the Wii on a weekday! She didn't even say anything else, merely ran upstairs to her mommy's room where the Wii was currently hooked up.

"Aunt Shell, what are you going to do about Frannie?" Quinn demanded to know.

"What do you mean what am I going to do? I doubt I will even see her." Shelby said.

"You better guess again because she is pissed that you let Mom see Beth." Quinn said, crossing her arms over her chest and staring petulantly at Shelby. Shelby sighed. How did she get all the kids tonight? One kid was having her soul sucked out via video game because she wasn't able to cook supper with her and wanted to make it up to her, one had just thrown up in the wastebasket beside her for the sixth time, one came over to gossip, and the other was mad at the world.

"Kurt, what are you doing now?" Shelby asked. Kurt looked up at her for a moment.

"I am going home. Carole and I are going out to eat while Finn and my Dad do something." Kurt said quietly. He was still nervous about Carole a bit, but he had been trying to do better.

"That is really good, Kurt. I am proud of you. And, no repeats of this weekend. Next time I promise that I will take you over my knee. It was unacceptable and both you and Rachel knew that. Understand?" It wasn't the speech that she really wanted to give, but she currently didn't have the time to give that speech when she knew this one would work.

"Yes, Auntie Shell, I know. I promise we won't."

Shelby nodded.

"Good. Quinn, what are you planning?" Shelby asked.

Quinn looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"I am staying with you! I am not going to home with my stupid sister there!" she snapped.

"Then go to your room and sit in there until I come and get you. Lose the attitude while you are up there and write me at least a page about why you are mad about your sister. Work through your feelings and when you can talk calmly about them, we will talk. Now go."

Quinn sighed. She wanted to say something else, but she knew better. She went over to the stairs and then stomped up them. She wanted Aunt Shell to know that she was slightly pissed off.

"I am gonna head out, Auntie Shell, I will see you later." Kurt said, walking over and hugging the woman.

"Bye, Kurt. Text me when you get home so that I know you got there safe. And, please behave."

Kurt laughed, "Promise, Auntie Shell."

Kurt then left. He didn't bother saying anything to Rachel because she was asleep. Or at least appeared to be asleep.

Shelby placed her hand on Rachel's forehead. It was warm and clammy. She sighed.

"Rachel, baby, look at me."

Rachel slowly opened her eyes.

"Is everyone gone? It was so loud." She whispered. Her head was hurting from all the throwing up she had done, and the noise hadn't been helping, but then she had fallen asleep.

"Quinn is in her room and Kurt went home. He and Carole have plans tonight."

"That's good." Rachel murmured, trying to pull her blanket closer around her and get her mom to hold her at the same time.

"Baby, it may be time that we try something different." Shelby told her gently.

Rachel's eyes snapped open then narrowed.

"What do you mean 'different'?" then Rachel leaned over and dry heaved again. Shelby sighed. Sometimes it really, really sucked being the mom. The mom always ended up being the bad guy.

"I called the doctor right after Quinn got here, and she said that it was best to keep you home because it was just a relapse of the sickness you had last week. There is nothing that can be done except to take the phenergan. You have already thrown up the aspirin, and I would much prefer that we didn't chance wasting the phenergan pills. Baby, I know that you don't want to…"

"Noooo…Mama…please don't!" Tears started coursing down Rachel's cheeks as she began to get overexcited. Coughs soon came, along with the gagging that could never quite turn into her throwing up because there was nothing left.

"I know you don't want too, Rachel, but you also know that your health is not something that I am going to play around with. If you feeling better takes a suppository, then that is what is going to happen." Shelby was stern, but soothing at the same time. She knew that Rachel didn't want it. She herself wouldn't have wanted it. But Rachel couldn't keep anything down, and Shelby was not going to let it get as bad this time. It had come on all of a sudden it seemed, and she didn't want to have to take Rachel back to the doctor or the ER.

"No, Mommy…" Rachel begged. She didn't want that! It was embarrassing! Her mom would have to put the medicine….there! It wasn't fair.

"Rachel…"

"And Quinn is here! She might see or something. No!" Rachel hissed as much as she could. Gah, her head hurt so badly. She unwrapped one of her hands to rub her head, but Shelby moved her hand away and gently began to massage her forehead.

Shelby held Rachel as she leaned forward again to try and throw up what wasn't there.

"Come on. We will do it in my bed, and then you can watch television and sleep in there. No one will bother you…"

"You sent Beth in there!" Rachel teared up.

"I will have her and Quinn walk down to the burger joint Beth wants for supper to get everyone something to eat. That will have them gone at least an hour since they will have to wait for the food to cook."

"I don't want that medicine, Mama. I'd rather throw up!" Rachel said, tears still coursing down her cheeks.

"Come on, love. Let's get you to my room." Shelby said, helping Rachel stand up. She knew the longer that she argued with Rachel, the worse that Rachel was going to feel. She would just stop arguing with her and do what needed to be done.

"Nooo….." Rachel whined as Shelby half carried her up the stairs and into her bedroom where Beth was playing the Wii.

"Beth, baby, turn the Wii off. I will move it downstairs later and you can play more, but right now I am going to let you and Quinn run to the burger place you want and get supper."

This excited Beth, who ran to get Quinn.

Thankfully, within the next ten minutes, Shelby had Quinn and Beth out the door, with a stern warning to Quinn to keep a hold of Beth's hand and then to both of them to behave while they were at. Shelby waved bye to both, and then wasted no time going to the fridge to get out one of the suppositories for Rachel. She sighed. She had no false hopes. This was not going to go well, and she knew it. She was going to have to be stern with her sick child and it sucked.

Walking back into her room she watched as Rachel was hung over the side of the bed, ready in case the dry heaves weren't so dry. Shelby opened up her dresser and pulled out a Wicked t-shirt that Rachel liked to wear, and went over to the girl, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Let's get you changed so that you are more comfortable." Shelby said, helping her stand up so that Rachel could take the skirt she had on off. Rachel sat back down and then let her mother more or less change her shirt for her.

"I need you to lay on your side and pull your knees up to your chest, baby."

Rachel shook her head and laid on her back. No way. Her mom might forcibly make her take that medicine, but she wasn't going to do it willingly.

Shelby sighed. She could see right through Rachel.

"It will be so much easier if you would just let us get this over with, Rach."

"But I don't want it! It is embarrassing. Even if it is you…Mama, it is embarrassing!"

"I know that you don't want it," Shelby said softly as she gently turned Rachel on her left side as she talked to her, "but if you are going to get better, this is for the best," She brought Rachel's left leg, then right leg up to her chest, "and the faster we get this done, the faster I will leave you alone and let you sleep or watch television."

Shelby gently pulled Rachel's underwear down when Rachel realized what was going on. Without even realizing what she was doing, Rachel swung her arm back and hit Shelby. It was not a simple 'swat the fly that is bugging me' hit, it was a smack that actually stung. Shelby knew her daughter was sick, and she knew that she didn't want the suppository that was currently on the nightstand anywhere near her, but Shelby had taught Rachel not to hit her when she was only a little over a year old, no matter what.

Shelby pulled Rachel's underwear down where she needed them and then smacked Rachel's bare leg. Not hard, but hard enough that Rachel felt it and knew she had stepped way out of bounds.

"You, young lady, do not hit me. You do not hit anyone, but you most especially do not hit me when something is happening that you do not like, even if you are sick. Now, I am fixing to use this medicine, and you are going to be okay with it. You do not have to be happy, but it is happening regardless of what you want because it is what is best for you," Shelby reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the foil wrapped suppository and held it in her hand to warm it for a few seconds before unwrapping it, "Is there anything that you would like to add?" Shelby asked as she leaned over Rachel and gently used the medicine in her hand as was necessary.

She felt Rachel's entire body tighten, so with her free hand, Shelby rubbed Rachel's back as she kept her other hand in place to ensure the medicine did as it was supposed to.

"I don't like it!" Rachel sobbed. Shelby really was sympathetic to her daughter. Thankfully, as a mother, Shelby had a certain set of skills where her children her concerned. With her free hand, she easily moved Rachel onto her lap and held her why she cried, all the while keeping the other hand stationary. Shelby rocked Rachel back and forth while the teenager cried.

A few moments later, Shelby was able to fix Rachel's clothes and she continued to rock her. She was still upset about having her mother use that medicine on her, and she didn't feel good at all. It all sucked in Rachel's eyes.

"Now, was that so bad?" Shelby soothed.

Rachel pulled on Shelby's shirt so that she could get both of her hands wrapped into it the way she liked. Shelby didn't even bother to pull her shirt down to cover her back and stomach because Rachel had too much of the material in her hands.

"It was horrible!" Rachel cried, rubbing her nose and eyes with Shelby's shirt. Today, Shelby didn't even bat an eyelash.

"Shh. I know, baby girl." Shelby said. She could feel Rachel falling out. She had known it wouldn't take the medicine long, and she was thankful, so she began to hum to the girl. Within ten minutes, the small fourteen year old was asleep. Shelby gently moved her over to the bed and covered her up so that she could sleep.

Shelby went to the bathroom and washed her hands. As she dried them she watched Rachel sleep, thankfully a peaceful slumber. Her little firecracker. Even when she was sick she fought certain things. Hopefully they would not have to go through that again. Shelby opened the door to her bedroom so that she would hear Rachel if she needed her, and then went downstairs to enjoy some peace and quiet while she could.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Judy Fabray was throwing pots around as she cooked. One of her daughters had run off to Shelby's, which was fine except she hadn't told Judy where she was going and Judy had been a nervous wreck until Shelby had texted her to let her know Quinn was there.

Her other daughter, a daughter she hadn't seen in more than five years, was setting the table. She could tell that Frannie was angry to learn that Beth spent time with her family. That the girl was, in fact, more family than Frannie was now.

Wilde was upstairs in Beth's room. Frannie had seen the pictures that littered the house of the little girl and her "Aunt Judy and Uncle Russ" and of Quinn and Rachel. There were none of Wilde, but that was Frannie's fault. Her parents hadn't even known about the girl before two hours ago. There were even pictures of Frannie. She was surprised. She figured that her mother would have put them up after she ran off, leaving only a note.

She had had to leave though. How did she explain to her mother that she had given up a kid only to become pregnant again less than five months later? How did she tell people that she was pregnant with yet another unwanted child?

So she had run. She had gone to New York, only to hate it. Then she went to Pennsylvania. Pittsburg. It had only been a little bit better. But she had stayed there, worked a crappy job, then had Wilde. Wilde Quinn. She had missed her little sister terribly after she left. She knew that Quinn might never forgive her for leaving her without a word and then refusing to talk to her.

"How old is Wilde, Frannie?" Judy asked, placing food on the table. They hadn't really spoken since Frannie's outburst about Beth.

"She will be five in February." Frannie mumbled.

Judy stopped what she was doing and stared at her daughter.

"That is why you left." Judy stated. It wasn't a question. It was a fact.

"Yes. I missed Beth. I didn't want to miss Wilde. I didn't want Beth, but it hurt knowing that I didn't want her but she was so close and I couldn't have her."

"And now?"

"Beth is not mine. Beth was never mine to miss. Wilde is barely mine."

"What do you mean, Frannie?" Judy said, staring at her daughter, trying to read her the way she used too.

"Wilde wasn't an easy baby. She never…she never wanted me. She always wanted to be alone. She still wants to be alone. I am not a good mother." Frannie said.

"I am sure that is not true…"

"You know nothing, mother!"

Judy didn't want to fight with her.

"Who is her father? Wilde's?"

"They have the same father. Wilde and Beth. Wilde looks like him. Obviously, Beth looks like me."

"Are you going to ask Shelby if you can meet Beth?"

"Ask? Why should I have to ask? Apparently you have her here all the time. I am sure during my stay I will see her. But like I said, she was never mine."

"No you won't." Judy said.

"I won't what?" Frannie asked, looking up at her mother.

"See Beth here. Unless you ask Shelby, you will not see her. Shelby knows you are here…"

"How?" Frannie hissed.

"Do you think that I just let your sister run off without knowing where she was? I would be out looking for her, just like I looked for you until you finally called me nearly two days after you left! She went to Shelby's and I am sure she has told her that you are here. She has her own room at Shelby's and is there right now. If you ever want a relationship with your sister, you better try to talk to her. She is angry and hurt. You left to hurt me, but you also hurt your father and your sister. I realize that I said things in anger, but you hurt a lot of people."

"I was pregnant again! What was I supposed to do, Mom?" Frannie shouted.

"Granma?" Wilde said from the doorway. She stared at her mother apprehensively and went over to the older woman and held her arms out to her. There was something about this Granma lady that little Wilde liked.

Frannie let out a stiff laugh when Judy picked Wilde up.

"Already my kid likes you better than me. She barely ever let's me pick her up to hold her. I am going to lie down in my room. Don't hold supper for me. I am sure Daddy will want to meet Wilde as well."

With that Frannie stomped up the stairs and then slammed her bedroom door shut.

She looked around.

It was exactly the same as she had left it. All the way down to the pair of Toms thrown in the corner and _The Hunger Games_ turned upside down on her nightstand to page 129.

This was going to be both easier and harder than she ever imagined.

It would be easy to leave Wilde when she left, but it would be hard to leave.

It would be hard to leave.

But not because of her children.

**OneStepAtATime-**

"Quinn, come in here, please." Shelby said later that night as she walked into Quinn's room. Beth was in bed, she had awakened Rachel only long enough to get her to eat some toast and warm tea and take her medicine. She was going to give her more phenergan at ten thirty, but she was hoping that Rachel would stay asleep for that. Shelby figured that the girl would probably feel better the next day after her fever went down and she kept some food in her stomach.

"I…I was just going to take a shower, Aunt Shell." Quinn said, moving around her room.

"No, sit. You and I are going to talk about the attitude problem you seem to have tonight." Shelby told the young girl. Quinn huffed and sat on the edge of her bed and picked at the purple comforter. This was not how this was supposed to go. She was coming over here to be comforted, to be cuddled by her aunt because her stupid sister had shown up with a random kid. Quinn was angry. She was so angry about everything. And then when she got here, Aunt Shell had yelled at her!

"Lucy Quinn! I have not had a very good afternoon. I had to cancel plans that Beth and I had because Rachel is very sick, and I have had to spend most of my afternoon cleaning up vomit because of that fact. You came into my home today demanding attention that I was all too willing to give despite everything else that was going on, and I asked you to do something simple for me, yet you refused and I had to tell you three times. You have been obstinate and mouthy since you got here. You also did not tell your mother that you were leaving and she had no idea where you had gone until I texted her and told her. I talked to her not long ago and she agreed with me that you needed to stay here tonight, though not because of your little fits tonight, but because your mother also has a lot on her plate tonight and she does not need you picking fights with your sister. Now, if you want to talk calmly about this, we can do so until I have to go and check on Rachel. Otherwise, you can take a shower and go to bed and we will discuss your behavior in the morning before your mother comes to pick up you and Beth in the morning for school. What will it be?"

"I don't want my mom to take me to school in the morning. I am angry with her." Quinn hissed.

"Too bad. I am not going to school tomorrow, and your mother wants to talk to you in the morning. Why are you angry with Judy?"

Quinn scoffed.

"Why? Seriously? You can ask me that? She just let Frannie in the door without so much as a thought to anyone else, and Frannie has another kid. She didn't want the first one, why have another one. That kid looked about the same age as Beth, so tell me, why another one? Why did she go and fuck around again?" Quinn yelled at Shelby.

"Watch your mouth, little girl! You may think that you are grown, but you are not! I get that you are angry, but your mother was not going to turn her child away. Ever. That was simply not going to happen. You left angry and came here, do you expect your mother to not allow you to come home tomorrow?"

"Of course she is going to let me go home…if I decide to go home that is."

"Oh, you are going home. Tomorrow. You are going home because your mother wants to talk to you, and talk you will. Your mother was always going to let Frannie come back when she wanted. It has nothing to do with you. You expect her to let you come back, but not your sister. That is not how it works. It would be like me not allowing Rachel to come back after College, or because she makes a stupid mistake, but allowing Beth to come and go as she pleases. It doesn't work that way when you have children…"

"Frannie did that! She chose one kid over another and…"

"Stop. Stop right there. Frannie has done no such thing. She gave Beth a good home. She made sure that Beth was going to have a loving mother and sister. I love Beth, and Beth is my daughter. She is not Frannie's. Frannie made that decision because it was what was best for Beth. Yes, she kept Wilde but…"

"Who?" Quinn asked, confused.

"Wilde. That is the little girl's name. She is will be five in February."

"So, Frannie was knocked up when she left. She is such a selfish slut! Beth was barely a year old when she had that kid! I hate her so much and I wish she would take her brat and go!"

Shelby had heard enough from Quinn, she walked over to where the girl sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed both of her shoulders and shook her lightly.

"Stop." Shelby demanded.

"No! I should be able to say what I want to say! If I want to tell her that she is a bitch for leaving me, then I should be able to tell her that! If I want to tell her that I hate her because she didn't even tell me bye, then I should be able too! If I want to scream at her because I thought I had done something to make her leave when it was really her all I along, I should be able too! I was ten years old and she left me! She was supposed to love me and she left me! I looked up to her, even after she got pregnant! She told me that she loved me and she never wanted me to make the same mistakes that she did and that she would be there with me when I had questions! But she left! She wasn't there when I had questions about Puck, she wasn't there when I thought about having sex with Puck, or when I decided that I wasn't ready, or when he was mad! I fucking hate her so much for not being there like she said she would be!" Quinn yelled, tears falling down her face in streams. She slid to the floor and pulled her legs up to her chest and held them there as she sobbed.

Shelby sighed. She wasn't happy about being yelled at or about the constant language used in Quinn's speech, but at least she now understood some of what Quinn was feeling.

Shelby got on the floor and pulled Quinn close to her and held her.

At the moment, she knew that it was all that she could do. Nothing she said would change anything right now, but maybe if she held the sobbing girl in her arms, she would at least get her to sleep soon.

Shelby felt like it was going to be a long night.

* * *

**AN: I am not sure if I am 100% happy with this chapter...There is so much that is going on now with Frannie back, I am not sure if I was able to convey all the drama that came back with her. Hopefully, I was able too. **

**I hope that you all liked the chapter, and thanks for all of the awesome reviews that I get. I will update again soon, though I do not know if it will be tomorrow or in a few days. The next chapter is going to have a LOT of stuff going on as well, so it is going to be a tad bit harder to write I think. **


	14. Biogetical Mommy and Daddy

**Chapter Fourteen: Biogetical Mommy and Daddy**

Shelby had been correct in thinking that she would not get any sleep that night. Between comforting Quinn and taking care of Rachel, Shelby had only gotten a couple of hours of sleep, and even that had been here and there. She'd had to give Rachel another suppository at 10:30, and had then set her alarm for 4:30 to give her another. The first one Rachel had slept through, the second one she had not, but instead had awakened in the middle of the process. That upset her because she still didn't want to use the medicine. However, by then, Rachel had decided that she was a little bit hungry so Shelby had gone downstairs to heat up some of the soup she had made the night before and to make a piece of toast.

Rachel had only been able to eat a little bit, but it was better than nothing. By then the medicine was making her extremely sleepy, and she asked Shelby to hold her while she fell asleep.

Before Shelby had known what was going on, it had been 6:30. It was later than she normally slept, but she didn't have to get ready for school and didn't have to get Rachel up which was sometimes the most difficult part of her morning.

Shelby woke up Quinn who would have to shower because she had never made it to the shower the night before. Shelby then went in to wake up Beth despite it being a bit early to wake the little girl up.

Gently rubbing Beth's back to wake her up, she whispered in her ear, "Sweet pea, you want to get up and come help me make breakfast?"

Within seconds the little girl was up, heading down the stairs with Shelby.

"Eggs, Mommy?" Beth asked from the fridge. The little girl ate more eggs than anyone Shelby had meet. She went through at least twenty-one eggs a week. Shelby went and bought two cartons of eighteen count eggs twice a month. On the other hand, Rachel detested even the smell of them. Shelby had not tried to get Rachel to eat an egg since she was three. She had thought it was a good idea to try once more to see if her little diva would eat eggs despite having made herself gag and nearly vomit from eggs when she was about a year old.

She did vomit when she was three. All over Shelby, in the middle of a diner called Short's.

Now Shelby tried to get Beth's eggs cooked before Rachel came downstairs so the smell wouldn't be so strong.

"Yes, sweetie. Bacon as well. You know Quinnie is here." Shelby said. Beth nodded seriously. Beth also liked bacon, but it was nothing compared to Quinn. That girl could eat enough bacon to sink a boat, or so that was what Beth had heard Aunt Judy say once.

Everyone thought that since Beth was little that she didn't hear things that people said. It was how she had known that Rachel had gotten a spanking and that her Mommy and Aunt Leah thought that Rachel never learned a lesson the first time around.

But it was also how she knew that Quinnie's big sister was back and that that also had something to do with her. It worried Beth. She was nearly six, and she wasn't dumb…she knew that she looked a lot like Quinnie and Aunt Judy.

She also knew that she was 'adapted'. Her mommy had told her for as long as she could remember that she was different from Rachel because Mommy couldn't have any more babies and she really wanted another baby to love and a sister for Rachel so when her 'biogetical' mother had her, her real Mommy 'adapted' her for herself and Rachel.

But, for some reason, Beth knew that Quinn's sister coming back was not a coincidence. It was something to do with her. She didn't know for sure, but she was almost positive.

"What are you thinking about, sweet pea?" Shelby asked. Beth had been staring off into space for the last several moments.

Beth looked over at her mommy and smiled.

"Nothing, I am really hungry, Mommy, are the eggs almost done?"

Shelby decided to ignore it for the moment, but she could see through a false smile on Beth just like she could see through one on Rachel. Something was bothering her youngest and she would not let it go for long.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Judy picked up Quinn and Beth and dropped them off at school, so an hour later, after cleaning up breakfast dishes and Shelby was sure that she was finally going to get the nap that she desperately needed before she had to give medicine to Rachel once more at 11:30. She was hoping that after that time that Rachel would be able to keep everything down and would no longer need the hated alternative medicine.

Rachel was in Shelby's bed, so Shelby simply laid down beside her daughter and closed her eyes when the doorbell rang through the house.

"You have got to be kidding me." Shelby whispered to herself as she slowly stood up only to have the doorbell ring again.

"Damnit." She hissed. She was going to be so angry if whoever it was woke up Rachel.

She was thankful that she was at least dressed decent despite her hair being in a messy pony tail. She had on a t-shirt and yoga pants that she didn't mind answering the door in.

The doorbell rang again.

Shelby stomped to the door and yanked it open, "What the hell! My kid is asleep and sick!"

Then Shelby realized who was at her door.

Frannie Fabray.

It did not do much to quell the anger that Shelby already felt.

"What are you doing here, Frannie?" Shelby asked her, putting her hands on her hips.

Frannie looked at her and stared.

"My kid is here. I want to see her. Mom said that I had to ask you first. That she wouldn't bring her to the house until after I left unless I talked to you."

Shelby stared at the young woman in front of her. Frannie Fabray was nearly twenty-three years old to Shelby's near thirty-five. Shelby no longer saw the child who had given her a baby when she was twenty-nine, but instead saw a confused young woman with mixed priorities.

"You should have called me first. My daughter is sick, and your incessant ringing of the doorbell could have awakened her. Yet, here you are, standing on my porch because you think you have a right to see_ my daughter_! Let's get something straight, Frannie, Beth is not yours. She is mine, and you cannot see her. She was three months old when you tried to steal her from her bed in the middle of the night while you were drunk, but luckily for you she was so young, else I would have had your ass arrested! Lucky for you that your parents cared enough to talk to me about it…"

"I could have had her then!" Frannie yelled.

Shelby looked at her.

"No, you couldn't have. The three months that you had to change your mind were up. They had been up for over a week. And you didn't want Beth, you just didn't want anyone else to have her either. You want to know why, Francine? Because you are selfish!"

"Why don't you leave us alone?" the question came from neither Frannie nor Shelby, but from Rachel who actually had awakened when the doorbell rang for the third time. Shelby turned and glared at Frannie. Rachel wasn't only sick, she looked sick. Her face was pale, and she was sweating. Her walk was unsteady as she clung to the wall near the front door.

"You have nothing in this, little girl!" Frannie yelled.

"How do you figure that? You are trying to see my sister when my mom already told you no and you hurt my best friend's feelings. My best friend who is YOUR sister. Because you really are selfish. Now why don't you leave me and my mom alone? You wouldn't want to catch what I have, and I would really like my mom to come lay with me. So leave!" Rachel yelled at the woman in front of her. Shelby grabbed Rachel, not because she was upset with the words her daughter had shouted, but because she could see that Rachel was unbalanced.

"Is this how Beth acts? Talking back to her elders? Just like her so called sister? Wilde wouldn't dare act this way with me. They have the same exact parents but obviously act very different."

Rachel stared at Frannie after she uttered the sentence and was fixing to tell the woman off again but Shelby hushed her with a silent pat to her lower back.

"Frannie. Get off my porch. You are not allowed to see Beth. She doesn't know you are her biological mother. She knows me and her sister, she knows her aunts and uncles and grandparents, and cousins. And yes, your parents and sister are her aunt, uncle, and cousin. It could have included you if you were not so very selfish. This is the life that she knows and you will not ruin that. Now _leave_."

Frannie didn't get a chance to say anything else to either Rachel or Shelby because Shelby slammed the door in her face. Shelby simply wasn't in the mood to talk to the stubborn woman, and she was not going to change her mind anyways. She was not going to let Frannie see Beth. Not when the woman was so inconsistent and only thought of herself.

"Mama, please come lay with me." Rachel said, leaning into her mother. Shelby held Rachel there for several moments before she helped her up the stairs and into her bed.

Rachel was nearly asleep when she turned scooted backwards into Shelby's side and then turned over so that she could lay her head on Shelby's shoulder.

"Mama, why did she give up Beth? Why didn't she want her?"

Shelby was silent for several moments before she looked down at her daughter.

"I will tell you a few things, but you must not tell Beth. One day I will talk to Beth, when she is much older. If I didn't think that you could keep this to yourself, I wouldn't tell you. If you want to talk to someone about it, you can talk to me or Aunt Leah. Don't mention it to Quinn because it isn't fair to her and she doesn't know the whole story. She already feels betrayed by her sister. Understand?" Shelby asked her gently.

"Yes ma'am, I understand."

Shelby nodded and then turned so that she could hold her daughter and tell her a little bit about Frannie Fabray and Beth before she was Beth.

Shelby felt the need to hold both of her daughters close at that moment, but since she only had Rachel, she would settle on holding her eldest.

"I met Frannie when she was five months along when I went to the doctor for a checkup. Frannie was upset because she had just been told that she couldn't have an abortion."

"What?" Rachel said, looking up at her mother, instant tears in her eyes.

"Frannie was really upset because she didn't want Aunt Judy and Uncle Russ knowing that she was pregnant. So, I told her about the fact that I was unable to have more children, that I had one daughter, you, but that I had always wanted to make you a big sister. I told her that if she was ever interested in adoption, that I would love to be considered. She told me right then that I could have the baby. I gave her my number, and never expected to hear from her again. But a month went by, and she and Aunt Judy showed up at the house one Saturday when you were with Kurt and Uncle Burt. That was when I realized that Frannie was your classmate, Quinn's, older sister. They told me that they really did want me to adopt the baby.

When Beth came along, I was happy and you were ecstatic. Right before I brought Beth home, Frannie told me that she never wanted her family to see Beth. But I knew, I knew that that was something I could not promise. A little over three months later was when Frannie broke into the house and tried to take Beth when she was drunk."

Rachel remembered that. She had been terrified. Shelby had put her and Beth in the towel closet in the master bathroom while she made sure that it was safe. Rachel didn't know what went on outside of that closet, but she had only been nine, and both she and Beth had cried together in that closet. Shelby had held them both all night after that.

"Then two months later, Frannie left. I knew that if she ever came back that she would be angry that I left Beth see her family, but they are more our family now than hers. Frannie will always be Judy and Russell's daughter, but she has estranged herself from her family. Frannie didn't want to be reminded of something she saw as a mistake."

"Why didn't she want Bethie? Bethie is a brat sometimes, but she is still my sister, and I will hurt Frannie if she comes near her!" Rachel said, getting over excited and emotional about the entire thing.

"Calm down, baby. Beth is wanted. Very much. We love her. A lot of people love Beth. That is all that matters."

Rachel nodded.

"Why is Frannie so angry at Aunt Judy?"

Shelby thought for a moment. She knew the truth because Judy had told her the truth right after Beth's first birthday.

"I don't think that is my story to tell, love. But, Frannie doesn't always like to take the blame for her actions. It is easier for her to blame others for her problems that it is to take responsibility for them."

"Mama, please don't ever let me leave." Rachel cried, hiding her face in her mother's side.

Shelby smiled. She loved hearing that sentence come out of her daughter's mouth.

"Don't worry, love, I am never letting you go anywhere. I couldn't live without you or Beth."

"Even if I did something stupid like got pregnant when I was sixteen?" Rachel slurred sleepily.

"Especially then. It is when you make your biggest mistakes that you will need me the most. I will always be right beside you. After I spank your backside. You aren't thinking of se…"

"No, Mama…I just wanted to make sure that you won't ever make me leave or let me leave." Rachel said, her eyes getting heavier by the moment, until they finally shut. Shelby leaned over her and kissed the top of her head,

"For you, baby, I would search the world, today, tomorrow, or a hundred years from now."

And, it was true. Shelby Corcoran knew that she was nothing without her daughters. They were her everything. To live without them would be to not live at all.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Beth Corcoran had a plan. She was supposed to ride the bus home, something that she never did because usually there was someone there to pick her up at After Play. Today though, Mommy had told her that she had to get on the bus right after school and come home. Her Mommy had written her teacher a note and called the school so that everyone would know that Beth was supposed to get on the bus.

Beth looked around at the people in line for the bus and made sure that none of the teachers were looking. Then she started walking.

She was going to Aunt Judy's house. She knew that she had to do this. She just hoped that she didn't get into too much trouble. After all, her Mommy hadn't said that she couldn't walk to Aunt Judy and Uncle Russ's.

Except, Beth was an intelligent little girl and she knew, deep down, that when her Mommy found out, she was probably going to get in a wee bit of trouble.

It took her fifteen minutes to walk to the Fabray's home. Thankfully, they lived really close to her school.

Beth hoisted her backpack up on her shoulders and timidly walked up the steps and rang the doorbell.

She waited for a few seconds and was just about to ring the bell again when the door swung open.

There stood a woman that Beth had only seen in pictures.

"Can I help you?" Frannie Fabray asked, staring at the little girl in front of her. Who was this kid?

"I want you to leave. You are making everyone sad." Beth told the woman. Beth's face was etched in anger. She wanted this woman to leave everyone alone. It wasn't fair that she came back and hurt everyone's feelings.

"Excuse me, kid?" Frannie said, placing her hands on her hips. Then suddenly it clicked.

"Your Beth."

"Yea, and you are my biogetical mother, so what! You need to leave. No one wants you here!" Beth screamed at her.

"Beth Corcoran, what are you doing here?" A voice from behind Frannie came. Beth swallowed and looked up at her Aunt Judy, who was holding a little girl on her hip.

"Who is that?" Beth asked, suddenly not happy with how things were turning out.

"This is Wilde. Does your mommy know that you are here, Elizabeth?"

"Why is Wilde here?" Beth ignored the second question.

"Elizabeth Corcoran, I asked you a question, young lady."

Beth sighed and looked down at her feet.

"No ma'am. I was supposed to ride the bus home." She whispered. Her Aunt Judy could be scary when you didn't listen to her.

"Go to the kitchen and stand in the corner, Beth. Right now. I am going to call your mommy."

"Aw, Aunt Judy…"

"Now."

Beth grudgingly walked to the kitchen where her corner was. It had been ages since she had been sent to her corner. Quinnie and Rachie's corners were in different rooms, just like they were at the Corcoran house. Mommy and Aunt Judy said it was for when all three of the girls got in trouble at the same time.

Judy picked up the phone and dialed Shelby. She knew that the bus had probably already run through there and Shelby was probably having a heart attack.

"_Judy? Can I help you? I am trying to get a hold of the school…they lost my child!" _Shelby yelled into the phone. She had indeed watched the bus go by without dropping her five year old off.

"I know where she is at, Shelby."

"_How could they lose…wait, you know where she is at?"_

"Yes, our little Miss Corcoran seemed to think that it was okay to walk here after school. Currently she is standing in her corner while I talk to you."

"_Why? What reason did she have that she thought it was okay for her to walk to your house after school? I told her to get on the bus!"_ Now Shelby was just angry.

"She wanted to tell Frannie to leave." Judy said quietly.

"_What? How does she even know about that?"_

"I think our Beth is a lot quicker to catch on than we thought. I can ask Frannie to go pick up Quinn, and I can bring Beth home. I know that you probably still haven't gotten a lot of sleep, so why don't I stop and pick something up for supper?"

On the other line, Shelby was quiet for a few seconds.

"_Okay. Tell Beth that she is in major trouble when she gets home. I want her to sweat it out a little. She is five years old, anything could have happened to her while she was walking home!"_

"Okay, Shelby. I will be there in a little bit. Precious cargo included."

"_Thank you so much, Judy. You could lecture her a little on the way home if you want as well. I cannot believe that she would do something like this…"  
_  
Judy laughed.

"With Quinn, Rachel, and Kurt as her role models…Shelby…"

This time it was Shelby's turn to laugh.

"_Okay, you have me there. I will see you in a bit. Bye."_

"Bye." Judy said, and then hung up the phone.

She walked into the kitchen and saw Beth still facing the corner.

But this time, Beth had a visitor.

Wilde was standing with her nose facing the wall beside Beth, quietly talking to the slightly older girl.

"Well, I guess I at least got to see her." Frannie said from the doorway to the kitchen. She was watching the two children and felt…nothing. Her lack of feelings confused her.

"Frannie, will you go pick up Quinn from Glee? I have to take Beth back to Shelby."

"As long as I don't have to take Wilde. I want to talk to Quinn. If she is stuck in the car with me, it might be my only chance."

Judy nodded.

"That is fine, but I need her booster seat."

"Yea. I'll put it in your car." Frannie said, snatching both sets of keys off of the key hooks and walking outside.

"Is my Mommy really bad?" came a small voice from the corner.

Beth was starting to tear up.

"Yes. Your mommy is very mad right now."

"I had to come. I had too, Aunt Judy."

"You wanted too, there is a difference."

"I know that she is my biogetical mother."

"We will talk about it with your mommy okay, Bethie?" Judy said, walking over to the girl and turning her around.

Beth relaxed a bit. Maybe it wasn't so bad if Aunt Judy was calling her Bethie.

Soon, Judy and the two little girls were on their way to Beth's house.

The closer they got, the more afraid Beth became. She just knew that she was going to get a spanking.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Mama, was sa matter?" Rachel mumbled. She was lying on the couch and had heard her mother on the phone.

"Your sister thought it would be a good idea to go and tell Frannie Fabray to leave everyone alone. She walked to Aunt Judy's after school."

Rachel's eyes grew.

"I walked down the street when I was six and you…"

"Yes, I am well aware of what I did." Shelby told her. She was planning on doing to same to Beth.

"If you can eat a little bit of supper and keep it down, I don't think we will have to use anymore of the suppositories." Shelby told Rachel as she sat on the edge of the couch so that she could take her daughter's temperature.

"Thank goodness." Rachel sighed. She did not want to have to go through that again. It was uncomfortable at best, despite how gentle her mother was during the process.

"But, you have to keep down some supper and then the other medicine that you are on."

"Okay." Rachel said just as the doorbell rang.

Shelby got up and went to answer the door. Judy stood there with bags of food in her hands and two little girls, one who was hiding behind Judy so that she didn't have to face her mother.

Shelby put her hands on her hips and stared at her youngest.

"Elizabeth Francine Corcoran, come here."

Beth took a deep breath and looked around Judy to face her mother. This was so not going to be good.

"I am not going to tell you again."

"No. You are going to spank me."

Shelby's eyes narrowed at her youngest child.

"Yes I am. How many swats you get will depend on you now."

"What do you mean? I only get five, cause I am five." It was simple in the little girl's mind.

"Usually you don't risk your life by walking over to Aunt Judy and Uncle Russ's. You are getting more than five swats."

This caused Beth to cry. She had never gotten over five swats. Even when she had taken the scissors to Rachel's hair when Rachel had been sleeping…she hadn't cut much hair, but Mommy had said that didn't matter, and she had gotten five swats.

Reluctantly, the little girl edged over to her mother, who picked her up and walked upstairs.

"Judy, Rachel is in the living room. There is soup on the stove. I will be down shortly."

Judy nodded. She knew that Shelby wanted to get Beth's punishment out of the way, and she didn't blame her. What Beth had done had been wrong, and, as much as Judy didn't want to admit it, no one knew for sure that Frannie wouldn't just up and leave and try to take Beth with her.

"Come on, Wilde. Let's go meet Rachel."

Wilde was a silent child. The most she had ever heard the little girl talk had been when Beth was in the corner earlier. Maybe the little girls realized that they were sisters deep down.

"Hey, Rachie, how are you feeling?" Judy asked, placing her hand on Rachel's forehead. She could tell that the girl still had a fever.

"I feel okay. Mom's been doping be up with medicine even when I am asleep, so I think I am numb."

Judy laughed. Shelby had told her that morning the methods she was using, and that Rachel wasn't happy about it.

"It's a mom's prerogative, sweetie. She doesn't like it when you don't feel good."

"Yea, I know."

Rachel flinched with she heard a cry from upstairs. Beth was always really loud when she was getting a spanking.

"Sounds like someone is not happy." Rachel mumbled.

"Rach, she walked to my house without…"

"Oh, I know, Aunt Judy. I think she deserves it. I mean, Mom did the same to me when I walked down the street without her when I was six…and then there was that time that Quinnie and I thought that we were big enough to get ice cream by ourselves when we were ten and you and mom found us. I mean, I know that she deserves it, but I still hate that she had to get a spanking."

"That is what makes you a good sister, Rachel. Would you like to properly meet Wilde." Judy said, taking the little girl into her lap.

"Rachel, this is Wilde. Wilde, this is Rachel."

"Hey, Wilde." Rachel said. She wanted to detest this little girl in front of her because of all the bad memories she had brought with her, but even Rachel at fourteen, knew that nothing was this little girl's fault just as nothing was Beth's.

"Hi." Wilde said, and then hid her face. Rachel smiled.

Twenty minutes later, everyone was at the table. Wilde and Beth, who had been soundly chastised and was having trouble sitting still, were sitting on one side of the table while Rachel was on the other, leaning into her mother. Judy was at the end, and was fixing the two girls plates, a piece of baked chicken, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a biscuit. Shelby was trying to urge Rachel to eat her soup and drink some of the tea that was in front of her.

Rachel wasn't really feeling like eating, and leaned into her mother's side. She looked over at the other side of the table and watched Beth and Wilde.

Both little girls, almost as if they had practiced it, were fixing their plates the way they liked them and at the exact same time.

Both girls missed their potatoes and coleslaw together, then tore their chicken into little pieces, sprinkling it over their mess of coleslaw and potatoes and gravy, and then began running their biscuits through the entire thing.

"I think that I am going to be sick." Rachel said, jumping up from the table and heading to the downstairs bathroom.

Judy and Shelby looked at the little girls and stared.

Sometimes genetics really were a thing of wonder.

"I am going to check on Rachel." Shelby whispered and then stood up. It surprised her, something so menial could have such a big impact on her. Two little girls who had not been raised together ate their food the exact same way. It wasn't something Frannie did, but she silently wondered if it was something the girls' biological father did. She didn't think that Frannie had meant to tell her earlier that day, but she had let it slip that the girls both had the same father.

The doorbell rang and Shelby sighed.

"You have got to be kidding me." Shelby hissed. She could hear Rachel in the bathroom, but she didn't sound sick, but was probably standing in there just in case for a few moments.

Shelby went to answer the door and was shocked to find Will Shuester.

"Will?" Shelby said. They talked at work, and sometimes he asked her questions about Glee, but that was the extent of their relationship. Unless he was curious about Rachel, who had missed a lot of school lately due to being sick.

"Shelby, I am so sorry to barge in on you like this, I know that Rachel is sick, and I hate that I just showed up out of the blue…" Shelby could tell that Will was upset.

"Will? What is wrong?"

"I knew that you were the only one I could come too because you are part of this."

"Will, you aren't making any sense."

"I mean, I didn't even realize…not until this afternoon…"

"Will!"

Will looked at Shelby and stared at her.

"Frannie Fabray…She is Beth's biological mother, right? You told me once, and I didn't put two and two together…but Frannie had another kid, another one after Beth was born…that kid…she is mine…" Will said, not even realizing just how much his statement had just affected the people in Shelby's house.

"Will…" Shelby stopped herself.

Because she silently wondered if Will knew that not only was Wilde his, if this were true, then he was also Beth's biological father as well.

* * *

**AN: Well, there is chapter fourteen..how many of you are surprised with the ending? More of that story will come out in the next chapter probably. Thanks for all the reviews, and I will update as soon as I can.:)**


	15. Learning the Truth

**Chapter Fifteen: Learning The Truth**

Frannie walked down the hallways of McKinley High and was thankful that she was no longer in high school. But, she knew the place like the back of her hand, and slowly walked towards the Glee room. Glee was supposed to be over in less than five minutes and Frannie wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

Frannie walked up to the choir room, where the door was already open and kids were walking out.

She finally spotted Quinn when a tall oaf of a teenage boy moved out of her way, staring at her as he did.

"Quinnie?" Frannie said, trying to get her little sister's attention.

Quinn, who was talking to Kurt about whether he thought Rachel was still mad at her or not, just froze and then turned slowly around.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the house with your kid?" Quinn snapped at her.

"Watch it, Quinnie! Mom sent me to come get you so that we could talk."

"Don't pretend like you care, Francine! I know that you don't care and I would rather walk home!" Quinn yelled.

"Oh no you won't! Mom told me to pick your scrawny ass up, so I am going to pick you up and throw you in the car if I have too!" Frannie yelled back at her.

"What is going on in here?" Will Shuester said from the doorway. He had heard the shouting from the hallway and had turned back around to investigate it. That was all that he needed, a fight breaking out between his Glee kids. They were already down Rachel until the girl was well. It was no secret that Rachel practically made their team, though he never told her that. He definitely hoped that she got better soon because Sectionals was not far away.

"This concerns my sister and me," Frannie turned to face the man behind her, "and…Will?" Frannie whispered his name. She hadn't seen him in nearly six years. Not since…it had been a long time.

"Frannie?" Will whispered. He hadn't seen her in years. She had broken his heart, but when she left, he had realized that the last name she had given him had not been her real last name, so he had no way of contacting her. He had lost sight of her, and a year later met Terri. He and Terri had been married for two years now, and he was madly in love with his wife, "You work here, Will?"

"What the hell?" Quinn spouted off.

"Come on, Quinn." Frannie said, changing her mind about talking to him after she looked down at Will's hands. She grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her towards the door. Quinn didn't even pay attention. Her mind was still on the familiarity between her sister and Mr. Shue.

Will followed Frannie and Quinn out the door, and then Kurt followed him.

"Frannie, what is going on?" Quinn asked, trying to get her sister to slow down.

"Francine! You can't just up and leave like this after not saying anything to me." Will said, still following the two down the hallway.

"You're married, Will. I noticed the ring first thing. Believe me, I noticed. I have thought about you for over six years…"

"You have got to be kidding me, Frannie! I tried to give you my number! You left and gave me a fake last name! Yea, I am married, and I am happily so, but a simple hi always was too hard for you!" Will said.

Frannie stopped at turned around. She dropped Quinn's arm and walked up to Will.

"I was almost seventeen," Will's eyes grew big, he definitely hadn't known that. He had been twenty-one and in college when they met. They had met at a frat party and she had been wearing a sorority t-shirt and told him that she was majoring in business, "when we met. You are obviously happily married," he definitely was, "and besides, I have to go to my parents' house and take care of _our _daughter. Her name is Wilde. Congratulations. It's a girl." Frannie hissed, and then turned around, grabbing Quinn who was shocked and speechless, and then pulling her out the door.

Will stood there in silence.

A kid?

What the hell had just happened?

He needed to sit down somewhere.

He chose the hallway floor. He didn't care that Kurt was close by. He needed to think. It was all so much to take in. He knew, though, that he had to do something.

Standing up, he headed out the door and headed to the only person who might be able to help him.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Will, I think..." Shelby said. This was a shock. What did she do? Shelby's thoughts went to Wilde. It all made sense. Anyone passing Wilde and Will down the street would think that the little girl was his. Wilde favored Will in almost every way.

"Mr. Shue is Beth's dad?" Rachel said from behind Shelby. Shelby closed her eyes. She hadn't heard Rachel walk up behind her. She should have known that Rachel would have caught Frannie's remark earlier that day.

"What?" Will said, confused. Beth? That was Shelby's daughter. It was the first baby that Frannie had had, but given to Shelby…

"No…Wilde. Frannie told me today…"

"They have the same dad, so if you are Wilde's daddy, then you are Beth's biological dad…are you here to try and ruin everything as well? You can't have her!" Rachel yelled at the man in front of her. She was tired of everyone trying to tear apart her small family.

"Rachel…I would…I would never do that. I… I need to go. I need to talk to my wife." Will said, and turned around to walk towards his car.

He was walking towards his car when he heard, "Mr. Shuester!"

He stopped and turned around, watching Mrs. Fabray walk out the door. How had he never realized that Judy Fabray and Quinn Fabray were related to Frannie? They all looked just alike.

"Mrs. Fabray, I am so sorry. I swearI had no idea. I had no idea that Beth Corcoran might be mine or that there was another child. I seriously didn't know. I didn't even know that the Frannie I knew was the same Frannie that Quinn sometimes talked about or Shelby told me was Beth's biological mother..."

The man was in tears. It wasn't something he had expected when he woke up that morning, to be told that he had two children, one whose life he would never get to be a part of and another whose life he could only hope to be a part of. It was confusing and painful.

"Mr. Shuester…"

"Please call me Will." He whispered.

"Will, you have to think long and hard about what you want to do in this situation. It is not fair to Wilde to not know."

"I didn't know that she was sixteen when we met. It was at a frat party and I was 21. The first time. I was almost 23 the next time, it was right before I graduated. She would have been nineteen nearly. I never knew about Beth or Wilde. There was nearly a year between the first and second times we met…"

"Will, people make mistakes. I know what happened. I knew that she was sneaking out and going to those fraternity parties. I knew that she had a fake ID, but there was nothing that her father and I could do that would make her realize that she was making mistakes. Our parenting style has changed now, but it was too late for Frannie then. It is not too late for Wilde though, or Quinn. Frannie no longer wants to be helped and that was why it was too late. She made mistakes because she was angry with me, and in turn hurt a lot of people."

"I have to talk to my wife." Will said, staring at the ground. Judy reached up and lifted his chin much like she often had to do with the kids to make them look her in the eye, "Will, I know my daughter better than she thinks, and she is not going to be here long. A day more, maybe a week. I will be surprised if she stays here a week…"

"But I just found out about…"

Judy cut him off, "She isn't taking Wilde with her. I knew it the moment she told me who the child was. Frannie would never have come back here except to leave Wilde. Now it is up to you and your wife to decide how much you want to be in that little girl's life. I have no say whether you will get to know Beth at all, but Beth has a family and is loved very much so there is never need to worry about her. Wilde is who we have to worry about right now."

Will nodded. He understood, at least some, what the woman in front of him was saying.

"Okay. I…Terri is waiting on me." Will said. Judy nodded, and then watched as he got in the car and backed up.

Judy did know her daughter well. She knew Frannie better than Frannie knew herself. She knew the look Frannie had had in her eyes the entire time she had been down. She knew that the reason that Frannie wanted to talk to Quinn was to tell her, this time, that she would probably not be back for a while.

And Judy had found the papers under Frannie's dirty clothes in her room. Termination of Parental Rights. Frannie had already signed them. Adoption papers had been right under there. Judy had left them there. She knew that it had to be something Frannie came to her about and not the other way around, else Frannie leave just like she did last time.

Judy walked back up the steps to Shelby's home and went in. Wilde and Beth were still eating, but Shelby and Rachel were sitting in the living room. Rachel was crying and leaning into Shelby and Shelby was rubbing her back soothingly and whispering into her ear.

Judy walked into the living room and sat on the coffee table in front of the mother and daughter.

"Rachel, what is wrong?" Judy asked her softly.

"He can't have Beth! This is all Frannie's fault! Why did you let her stay, Aunt Judy? This is all your fault! Yours and Uncle Russ's!" Rachel hissed, tears coursing down her cheeks.

"Rachel Barbra, apologize to your Aunt Judy this instant." Shelby said. If the girl wasn't so sick, she would have swatted her. Regardless, though, she didn't have cause to be rude.

"Shelby, it is fine…" Judy said. She knew Rachel, and she knew that the girl had to get everything out before she was chastised, else it would build up and get her into trouble later.

"No! I like the way things were before she came! Quinnie and me may not really be talking again yet but she is still my best friend and she is upset and I don't like it! And you sent Frannie to get her! How is that going to make Quinnie feel? You are being selfish. Everyone is being selfish, but at least we are being selfish because that bitch tried to see Beth today and you didn't even warn us! What if she tried to take her again? And then Beth walked to your house! You should have made her leave!"

At that moment, Beth walked into the living room and walked over to Rachel so that she could push her way onto her big sister's lap. Beth wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck.

"I am sorry, Sister. I won't ever walk home like that again. Even if Mommy hadn't'a spanked me, I wouldn't do it because it made you so sad. I promise that I won't." Beth held onto Rachel tightly, and laid her head on Rachel's shoulder as Rachel tightened her arms around her little sister and breathed in her scent. Beth had always smelled the same way to Rachel, since the day she had been brought home, and in many ways it was comforting. It was almost as comforting as her mom's scent…though no one's scent beat her mom's when she was upset or hurt or sad.

"Beth, why don't you take Wilde up and show her your room? Mommy and Aunt Judy need to talk to Sister for a few minutes." Shelby said, patting the little girl on the back. She was glad to see that then ten swats she had doled out earlier had left no lasting effects on the little girl, who was now only worried about her big sister.

"Okay, Mommy." Beth said, climbing off of Rachel and going into the kitchen where Wilde was still sitting at the table quietly. Judy and Shelby watched as the two made their way up the stairs as Beth explained to Wilde where they were going. As soon as the two disappeared, Shelby stood up and pulled Rachel up with her,

"Rachel Barbra, you will not speak as you just did, and you will not tell me no when I tell you to apologize to anyone," She swatted her behind once, "do you understand me?" Shelby swatted her again. In that moment, the only thing that was saving her from further chastisement from her mother was that she was sick.

"Yes ma'am." Rachel sobbed. She sat back down and pulled her legs up to her chest.

"I am going to clean up the supper dishes. I think you have something that you need to say to your Aunt Judy." Shelby said as she walked out of the room and into the kitchen so that she could give the two time to talk.

"I'm s-s-s-oorrry." Rachel cried into her arms, never looking up at her Aunt Judy.

Judy moved to the couch and lifted Rachel's chin much as she had done to Will Shuester earlier and looked into the glistening caramel eyes of her niece.

"I know that you are sick and that you don't feel good. I know that you are confused and don't understand everything that is going on right now, but Rachel…"

Rachel tried to move her head down, but Judy was stronger and held her chin where it was so that Rachel had to maintain eye contact with her.

"…Rachel, I will not hesitate to pull you over my knee the next time you speak to me in such a manner again, I do not care how you feel. You have to remember that I am the adult and you are the kid, no matter whose fault anything was, you have no right to speak to me like you just did. Do you understand me?"

Rachel nodded, as much as the slack in Judy's hand would allow, and averted her tear filled eyes.

"I am going to need a verbal answer, Rachel."

"Yes ma'am." Rachel sniffed, and closed her eyes as tears fell down her face.

"Come here." Judy said, opening her arms to the girl beside her. Rachel launched herself into Judy's arms, and buried her face into the older woman's chest. Shelby walked back in the living room just as Rachel was letting Judy go and stood beside the couch.

"Come on, love. I think that it is time for you to go lay back in bed." Shelby told her gently.

Shelby could tell that Rachel had had all the excitement she could handle for the day. She needed a good night of sleep and she would probably feel a lot better the next day, and then hopefully on Thursday, she would be ready to go back to school.

Rachel looked up and noticed the dreaded foil packet in her mother's hand, along with a bottle of water and some crackers.

"Mama, nooo…" Rachel started to cry as she stood up to walk with her mother. Judy merely smirked. She knew what it was like to fight with a kid over medicine, no matter how it was used. But Rachel was still not keeping anything consistently down without it, so Shelby knew that at least one more was called for. Rachel would probably sleep for the rest of the night that way.

"Come on, Rach. Let's get this over with and then you can watch television while you fall asleep." Shelby said, guiding her up the stairs.

"I will be right back, Judy." Shelby said and Judy nodded just as the doorbell rang. Shelby didn't even stop. She didn't care who it was, Judy could answer it if she wanted, but she wasn't about to answer it again right now. Every time she had opened that door today it had brought drama along with it.

Judy got up when she saw Shelby continue her walk upstairs and walked over to the front door and opened it. She smiled when her husband was standing there, his arm automatically opening up to wrap around her in a tight hug. He knew how much everything was stressing her out, and when she had texted him to let him know that she was at Shelby's, he had turned his car in that direction.

The couple went into the living room and sat down on the couch that Rachel had just recently vacated and were silent for several moments.

"What is going on, Judy?" Russ asked her, rubbing her arms with his thumb.

"What isn't, Russ? Frannie has turned everything upside down. We found out who the girls' father is today." Judy had told Russ the previous night while they were lying in bed that Frannie had told her that both girls had the same father. Surprisingly, Russ was happy about that. He had said at least she had been consistent. Russ hadn't quite forgiven Frannie for running off. It reminded Judy of just how alike Quinn and her father were. Quinn might look like Judy, but she had her father's temperament.

"Who is?" Russ said, bristling.

"Will Shuester. He had no idea. Apparently when Frannie was pregnant with Beth, Will hadn't seen her for nearly a year. Then she met him again, got pregnant with Wilde, and then she left."

"Quinn and Rachel's Glee coach?"

"The one and only. He was in college. Frannie told him that she was majoring in business. I think we need to give him a chance…for when…" Judy let out a sob that she had been holding in.

Russ took her hands in one of his and then pulled Judy closer to him.

"When she leaves us with Wilde. I know, Judy." Russ whispered. They stayed silent for several minutes when Shelby finally came back down after getting Rachel settled and checking on the two little girls. Shelby took the a seat on the coffee table and sat in front of the couple.

"I am sorry about Rachel, Judy. That was not fair." Shelby said, staring intently at the woman.

"Shelby Corcoran, I can handle Miss Rachel just fine. She is sick and this is happening to her too. I think that we forget how much things like this affect Quinn and Rachel. We forget that they were there when Frannie left, and then we don't always know what is going through their minds. No she shouldn't have talked to me as she did, and I told her as such when you went to clean the kitchen, but Shell…Rachel and Quinn don't see things the way we do, or the way that Beth and Wilde see things. They don't use logic or see things as simplistic. They don't even see thing as rational."

Shelby laughed lightly. She knew that Judy was right.

"What are you going to do about Will? Will Frannie let him see Wilde?" Shelby asked.

"If Frannie was planning to keep Wilde, I don't think that she would have a say one way or another. Will has rights to Wilde. He doesn't to Beth because Beth was adopted. I told him outside that he may never get to be a part of Beth's life because of that…that Beth is happy and doesn't need her life jostled around with things that she would not understand. Wilde is different. She is not like Beth, she was not given up for adoption and she is not necessarily happy. She took to Russ and I quickly, but Frannie said that she rarely ever lets her hold her or touch her. I wouldn't believe it if I had not seen how Wilde acts around Frannie. I don't think that Frannie was neglectful, or mean. I just think that she wasn't as attentive as she could have been."

"Frannie is leaving without Wilde isn't she?" Shelby asked. This was not the first time that the two women had talked about Frannie, but this scenario was simply different than their usual conversations.

"I found the Termination of Parental Rights papers, so yes, she is planning on leaving Wilde. That is why I want Will to figure out what he wants. If Frannie is going to leave Wilde with Russ and me, then we do not want another parent entering her life and then leaving. But if Will and his wife want to be a part of Wilde's life from here on out, then I think that is what is best for Wilde. I told Will that we all had to think about what is best for her. She is four years old. She is the one that matters." Judy said.

"I agree," Russ said, "but we still have to think about the other girls. We have to think about Quinn. When Frannie left last time, she was devastated. We have to think about Rachel. This situation has no doubt brought up some memories of her own situation, a situation that she found out about not long ago when Leroy Berry showed up. We have to think about Beth. Wilde is her sister, and she obviously understands more about her adoption than any of us thought. And Wilde. She needs a stable life."

Shelby and Judy both looked at Russ. He was usually a quiet man, and only inserted his opinions when they were needed or he felt the situation warranted them.

He looked at both of the women and laughed, "What? I know our girls just as much as the two of you, I just don't show it quite as often as the two of you."

Both women shook their heads just as the two smallest girls came down the steps.

"Granpa!" Wilde yelled, and ran to the man, launching herself at the man with a giggle.

Shelby realized that it was the first time she had heard the little girl say anything, let alone let out such an innocent giggle.

"Hiya, Uncle Russ!" Beth said, climbing onto Russ's spare knee.

"Judy, I might be a little jealous." Shelby said with a light laugh.

"I agree." Judy smiled, and looked on at the two little girls, both her biologically her granddaughters, and smiled as a tear slipped down her face. Shelby reached her hand out and held onto Judy's hand.

They both knew the other's thoughts were in this instant. Judy looked at Shelby and whispered, "Thank you," while tightening her grip on Shelby's hand.

Shelby knew that she was being thanked for letting Beth and Rachel be a part of Judy and Russ's life. She didn't need an explanation.

"Always." Shelby said with a smile.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

In another part of town, Frannie parked her car and climbed out of it. Quinn got out and looked at her sister.

"Why are we here?" Quinn asked, staring at the old swing in an old tree sitting beside a creek. Quinn hadn't been here since she was ten and Frannie had brought her a week before she had disappeared.

"We need to talk, baby sister."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Will walked into his home. He had cried on the way home. Normally, he prided himself on being strong, never letting anything get to him enough to cry.

But this was different.

He took off his jacket and placed his keys on the key hook near the door.

He walked into the kitchen where his wife was cooking something at the stove. Terri Shuester turned around with a smile on her face that instantly dropped when she saw Will and the look on his face.

She turned the stove off and went over to her husband, wrapping her arms around his waist and placing her head on his shoulder.

"Will, what is wrong?"

Will cleared his throat and wrapped his arms over her shoulders.

"I need to tell you something."

* * *

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews:)**

**I have had some questions about Wilde and how to pronounce her name. In my head, I pronouce it *Willed*. I actually think that it is german in orgin and is pronounced *Veiled*, however, I picked it as a play on Will's name, therefore, *Willed* is how I pronounce it. **

**I hope everyone understands what happened between Will and Frannie now...he was not a teacher, she was the age of consent and was telling him that she was in college. Will also did not know that Frannie was pregnant once, let alone twice. Mistakes happen, but Will is DEFINITELY not one to sleep with his students. I did want him to be older than Frannie was though, for various reasons. **

**So, any questions? Comments? What do you think that Frannie wants to talk to Quinn about? What about Will and Terri's talk?**


	16. Talks All Around

**Chapter Sixteen: Talks All Around**

Will and Terri Shuester, dinner forgotten, sat together on the living room sofa and Will tried to think about what to say to his wife.

Will had met Terri one night not long after he graduated from college. He had been pining over Frannie, the girl with no real last name that he couldn't find on Facebook no matter how many times he looked, and he was in a local store looking for cold medicine for a slight fever and chills that he had. It had been December and Will was working at a bookstore until he could find a position at a High School somewhere.

When he met Terri, though, all thoughts of Frannie left. Even sick, she took his number and he hers, and they both promised to call one another after talking down the cold and flu medicine aisle for nearly forty-five minutes.

The next December, they were engaged, and then when Will was twenty-seven and Terri was twenty-six, the two were married. They had now been married for two years, and had loved every moment of it. They fit together in every way, and Will loved nothing more than to come home to his wife at the end of the day.

"Will, whatever it is, we will get through it. Tell me, Will."

Will took a deep breath and looked down at his wife.

"Do you remember right after we met and I told you about Frannie? The girl who I thought was the one before I met you and realized what having 'the one' really felt like?"

"Of course. We talked about that before we ever officially started dating. What has made you think of her?" Terri asked. At one time, Terri would have been jealous of even the mention, but she had grown over the years and she knew that she and Will were it. They were the ones who everyone knew belonged together. Terri was simply concerned now. Her husband was upset and she wanted to comfort him if it was at all possible.

"She is the sister of one of my Glee kids. I didn't know it. I never put two and two together, and today she came and picked up Quinn. Apparently she got into town last night. She saw my wedding ring and just blew up. She was angry, which confused me. I haven't seen her in nearly six years. But Terri…" Will stopped to run his hand that was not wrapped around his wife over his face.

"Go on, Will."

"I have a kid, Terri. In fact, I have two kids. She was pregnant twice and she never told me." At this, Will broke into sobs and Terri sat up and looked at him.

"Do you believe her?" Terri asked him, taking the apron she had had on protecting her clothes from the food she had been cooking, off, and then taking it to wipe the tears off of Will's face.

"I went and talked to Shelby Corcoran after she told me."

"Shelby Corcoran that you work with? The one with the two kids?" Terri asked. She had met the woman once at the beginning of the year. Will had only worked at the two since September, so she had not had a chance to really get to know anyone in the area, but she had liked Shelby Corcoran.

"Yes."

"Why her?" Terri asked, trying to piece everything together.

"Because I knew that she had adopted Frannie's first child. At the time, Frannie had only told me that the youngest was mine, but when I went to talk to Shelby to ask her opinion about the situation, to see what she knew about the situation since she had been through something similar, Rachel, you know the girl I talk to you about all the time, Shelby's oldest, started screaming at me because she thought that I was trying to take her sister, Beth away. Turns out that Beth is also mine. Then Judy Fabray, Frannie's mother came out of the house to talk to me, and she said that we, you and I, needed to decide how we want to proceed because she said that she knows Frannie came back to leave Wilde, that is her name and she is four, and that she wants to terminate her own parental rights…but I still have rights to Wilde. I don't with Beth because she was adopted, but…"

"She came back to leave her child? Why? What kind of mother would leave her child?" Terri whispered.

"Judy Fabray said that we had to decide if we want to be a part of her life because it isn't fair to have one parent abandon you, and get another just to have that parent abandon you too. I…I agree with her. But I also could tell that she and her husband want to be a part of Wilde's life as well. They are part of Beth's life. As her aunt and uncle."

"Will, we can give her a home. We can give her a home and she can have parents and grandparents. We wouldn't have to take her away from her grandparents. It wouldn't be fair if we tried. We can give her everything that she needs." Terri said quietly.

Will looked at his wife, and concentrated on her face for several moments.

"Really? You would be willing to take in a child that is not yours, to love a child that is not yours?"

Terri placed her hands on the sides of Will's face, and stared at him intensely.

"She is a part of _you_. That is all that matters. I can love her as if she were mine because she is part of you. I already love her because of that."

Will could only smile through his tears.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Quinn sat in the grass by the tree and her sister sat beside her. They had been sitting there, staring at the little creek for thirty minutes. It almost felt…normal.

"I am going to leave again soon." Frannie said in almost a whisper.

"I know. I knew that you wouldn't stay very long. Why? Why come back and hurt us again? Why Frannie?" Quinn began to cry.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Quinnie. I wanted to protect you. I knew how much you looked up to me and wanted to be like me. I didn't want that for you. I had just found out that I was pregnant again, and after Beth…I couldn't go through that again and I couldn't make my family go through that again."

"I needed you though."

"I wasn't good for you."

"But you are my big sister. I needed you. I have needed you more this year than ever. Rachel and I are are still kind of fighting…or at least we haven't gotten to make up with one another yet, and I almost slept with my boyfriend this summer and then we broke up and Kurt told me that Mom and Dad caught them alone in Rachel's room when no one else was home and they were both nearly undressed . I needed to be able to talk to you about those things. Rachel is as good as my sister, but I was so mean to her at school. I threw a slushie on her and made her feel like she wasn't worth our friendship…then I realized that I made her feel the same way that you made me feel when you left, and I felt like the worst person alive. Mom and Aunt Shel were both so angry at me. I had broken up with my boyfriend that Mom and Dad didn't even know that I had because some stupid Cheerio tell me that Rachel slept with Puck. I don't know why I believed it, but Finn, Rachel's boyfriend at the time also believed it so then they broke up. I don't really know what happened after she was caught. She has been sick and we haven't really made up. We have talked a little, but we haven't cleared the air. I needed you then too. I have just needed you. I love you, Frannie, and I need you."

Frannie was in tears by this time. She had known that she had hurt Quinn, but she also knew that she couldn't stay.

"I can't stay, Quinnie. It isn't fair. It isn't fair to Beth, or Wilde…and it isn't fair to you."

"They aren't the only ones affected by you. It hurts when you leave."

"Things change when you have children, Quinnie. They have too. It changed everything, and I don't want to hurt you more than I already have."

"You don't even want your children, Francine! You hate them, so how have things changed? How?"

"Oh Quinnie, I don't hate them. I love them so much. So much more than you will ever know. It is because I love them so much that I have to pretend not to. It is because I love them so much that I must let them go. I know that I cannot give them anything that they deserve. I love them, but sometimes love is not enough. I knew that love was not going to be enough for them. They need consistency and structure. Something I cannot give them right now. I knew it with Beth before she was born. I knew it with Wilde when she was born. I was too proud to come back though, and that pride hurt Wilde. She needs a loving home. She needs what I cannot give her."

"I don't want you to go, Frannie. I know that since you showed up I have been a bitch, but I am still hurt." Quinn sobbed, putting her head in her hands.

Frannie moved over to her sister and wrapped her arms around her. Quinn fell into her sisters arms and sobbed.

"All I ever do is cry." Quinn sobbed into Frannie's arms. Frannie rubbed her back and hummed softly to her like she used to so when Quinn was small and would come sleep in her bed in the middle of the night during a storm.

"Please don't leave, Frannie. Please. Stay for me." Quinn begged.

"I can't. Will it make you feel better if I stay in touch with you this time? If we talk, at least once a week? That is the best I can do, Quinn. I have to leave."

"Maybe. What are you going to do with Wilde? You said that you aren't taking her with you." Quinn sniffed.

Frannie hugged Quinn to her tighter. She needed the comfort just as much as Quinn did.

"I was going to leave her with Mom and Dad…"

"But now?"

"…I have to give Will the chance. I didn't with Beth. I never gave him a chance with Beth because I never thought that I would see him again. But now that I know where he is, and the fact that he lives here…it is not fair not to give him a chance to want her. He is married, if I know Will like I think I do, he will be talking to her right now."

"Yea. Probably. He and his wife seem really close. He has pictures all over his office of her." Quinn said quietly.

"I have to do this, Quinnie."

"I know." Quinn whispered, turning around so that she could sit between Frannie's legs and lean back against her chest. She really had missed her big sister terribly.

"Quinnie, can you promise me something? A couple somethings?" Frannie asked. Quinn nodded. She couldn't speak anymore without tearing up.

"You are not ready for sex. You are only fifteen. Don't do the things I did. Talk to someone about it first. I know that you have been thinking about it because you said as much…don't. I know you don't get it, but you are still a kid. I want you to be a kid as long as you can. If you need to talk to someone talk to Mom, or Shelby Corcoran. She seems to be quite fond of you."

Again, Quinn nodded.

"What else?" Quinn asked.

Frannie took a deep breath, "Please take care of my babies. I can't let anyone else know how I feel. No one but you and maybe Mom because she is Mom and I think she suspects. Please make sure that they are always taken care of."

Quinn sat up and turned around to face Frannie, leaning on butt on her heels and leaning on her knees.

"You know they will be, right? Beth is really happy. And no matter where Wilde goes, she will be happy. I promise."

"Thank you, Quinnie." Frannie said and reached forward and wrapped her sister in a tight hug as they watched the sun go down over the tiny creek that was part of their childhood.

Frannie realized that it was still part of Quinn's childhood, and for that, she was thankful.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Later that night Frannie walked into her parents' room and stood in the doorway while watching her mother read. She had put Wilde down earlier, and she was well aware that it was going to be one of the last times she was able to do so.

"Frannie, do you need something?" Judy asked from the bed, never looking up from her book. Frannie walked into the room and shut the door behind her, climbing into the bed beside her mother.

"I need to talk to you."

Judy was surprised that Frannie had come in to talk to her. Frannie used to come in every night to talk to Judy before Russ came up. It had been a much simpler time though.

Judy put her book down and put her arm around Frannie and pulled her close. For the first time since she had been back, Frannie let her mother hold her.

"What do you need to talk to me about, Frannie?"

"I know that you found the papers. I knew that you would do my laundry. I know that you know that I am fixing to leave. I don't want you and Daddy to hate me for what I have to do." Frannie whispered.

"We could never hate you. Ever. We love you. Your father and I love you and Quinn like our lives depend on it."

"How can you love me after what I did to you? How can you love me after what I am about to do?"

Judy brought Frannie's head down to her chest and held her daughter. She kissed her head and then placed her chin on top of Frannie's head.

"Francine Norah Fabray, your father and I love you. We will always love you. You made some mistakes. We all did. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions when I found those condoms in your room when you were sixteen and I should have let you explain…and you shouldn't have gotten angry and stormed out of the house to do things that you weren't ready for over a legitimate question on my part. I was worried about you. I had every right to be worried."

"You were right though, Mom. I shouldn't have lost my temper. It was so much more my fault."

"I wish that you wouldn't have left." Judy told her daughter.

"I had too, Mom. The night I conceived Wilde was the night that I showed up at Shelby's house and broke the window out of the front door. Two months later I found out that I was pregnant again, and I couldn't do that to you and Daddy and Quinnie. I had to do what was right. So I left."

"I know. Do you promise to keep in touch this time, Frannie? Besides just Christmas? I _need_ to know that you are okay all the time. You are my daughter. Nothing is ever going to change that need."

"I will, Mom. I told Quinnie that I would talk to her once a week too. I don't expect to be forgiven. I know that I have made mistakes. But Beth and Wilde are worth those mistakes."

"They really are. Beth is a brilliant little girl. She can find trouble in the most unlikely places, but I blame that on the big kids. She wants to be just like Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt. Just like Quinnie was with you." Judy said with a smile.

"I need to talk to you about Quinnie, Mom."

"Yes?" Judy asked, looking down at Frannie as the girl looked up.

"I don't want her to make the mistakes that I made. When I talked to her today she mentioned that she thought about having sex with some guy this summer but that she wasn't ready. I think you need to talk to her about it. You and she are so much closer than you and I were when I was her age. She will talk to you instead of being like me. I am glad that I left for that alone…that Quinn didn't grow to be like me."

"Oh Frannie. One day all of this is going to make sense."

"You are okay with me leaving again? You understand why I have to leave, Right?"

Judy swallowed. She didn't want to be okay with it, but she did understand where Frannie was coming from. Even if it hurt, Judy understood.

"What about Wilde?" Judy asked instead of answering.

"I was going to leave her here because I knew that you would take her and care for her. But, now that I know where Will is at…I think he deserves a chance to father his daughter. I took that chance away with Beth, I don't want to do that with Wilde. He is married, I know that he is probably talking to her about everything tonight. I thought I might try to find out where he lives tomorrow so that I can go talk to both of them."

"I will come with you. I know where he lives. I talked to him this afternoon…and I told him that he had to be completely sure. I am not trying to be cruel, Frannie, but you are the only adult that Wilde really knows and you are leaving her here. I won't let Will come into her life and leave. He is in a stable situation…if you and he and his wife are serious about this, I think that you need to let them have Wilde. Let his wife adopt her. Let her love Wilde…if that is what you think is best. But realize that you cannot come back into her life in five years and expect her to fall back into your open arms. It doesn't work like that, and I know you know that."

Frannie was crying. She did know all that.

"I want what is best for my daughters. Beth has that. I need to make sure that Wilde has that before I leave. I know she may never forgive me, but I am giving her something that I cannot. I am not in a situation that is constant and nurturing. I move around all the time. I don't always have steady work. I want my daughter to be loved. I want her to know her grandparents and her aunt, and her sister if Shelby will allow it. I want her to have two loving parents like I had growing up. Will and his wife might be able to give her that."

Judy wiped the tears away from Frannie's face and hugged her again. She knew that she was fixing to lose her daughter again and she wanted to feel her body against her own as long as she could. She wanted to have this memory implanted into her mind forever.

"I know. I will help you do that. Just remember what I said: Do not come back in five years expecting either her or Beth to want to know you. It doesn't work that way. Wilde is young, she may forget you all together, or she may think of you as a distant memory. But regardless, you will no longer be her mother after you sign those papers."

"I know." Frannie whispered, tears streaking down her face.

"You will talk to Quinn, Mom?" Frannie asked her.

Judy nodded, "Yes. I will talk to Quinnie. I probably should have done so as soon as I found out about the fight she and Rachel had over those boys. All will be well. Quinnie has grown up in different circumstances than you. There have been many days that I wished you had had Shelby Corcoran in your life like we do. I always know that Quinn has somewhere to go if she can't talk to your father or me. I wish you had had that. Sometimes there are things that she doesn't want to talk to me about, and she will talk to her. The same with Rachel, there are things that she will tell me that she won't tell Shelby. Our family is unconventional at best, but it works."

"It will all work out, Mom. Hold me? Please?" Frannie asked. Judy wrapped her arms tighter around her eldest daughter and kissed her head.

They stayed like that until they fell asleep. Russ came in after he had watched the news, but didn't want to wake them. He couldn't do that to Judy, who needed to hold their daughter, and he couldn't do that to Frannie, who needed to be held. He went and checked on Wilde who was in Beth's room, and then went and checked on Quinn, who had thrown all her blankets on the floor. He picked them up and covered her with them and then bent down to kiss her forehead.

"Love you, Daddy." Quinn said, rolling over and clutching her blankets to her chest.

"I love you, too, QuinnieBear."

After that, Russ went into the guest room and went to bed, sleeping peacefully knowing that both of his daughters were home and in bed, no matter how short a time it would be.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

The next day Rachel was finally feeling better. Shelby had kept her home one more day, but promised as long as they had no setbacks, that Rachel could go to school on Thursday. Rachel was excited, more so about the fact that she didn't have to take that dreaded medicine anymore. Shelby had let her more or less control the television all morning, and by the afternoon Rachel had felt like working on some of her homework, so Shelby had sat at the kitchen table with her and helped her catch up on some of the things she had missed.

By two, Rachel had been tired, so Shelby had her lie down on the couch and watch television until she fell asleep, which was almost instantly.

Just as Shelby was throwing a load of dirty clothes in the wash, her cell phone rang in the kitchen so she went to pick it up, automatically worried when she saw the number of Beth's school on the screen.

"Hello?"

"_Yes, is this Ms. Corcoran?"_

"This is she."

"_Yes, this is Mrs. Miller at McKinley Elementary, and I am calling you about your daughter, Elizabeth. There seems to have been a little bit of trouble this afternoon in the classroom, and I need you to come pick her up."_

Shelby's eyes narrowed.

"What sort of trouble, if I may ask."

"_Of course. Elizabeth was upset with one of the students at her activity table and poured paste all over the young boy's head. Now, as you can imagine, we cannot tolerate such offenses at school, else all of the children will mimic one another. Now, the little boy in question is also in trouble for getting a finger painting canister and tipping it on Beth's clothes. We are not sure who started this altercation, as both are pointing at each other."_

"I understand completely. I am on my way." Shelby said as she hung up the phone.

Shelby sighed. She needed a vacation.

She knew one thing for certain though; Little Miss Beth Corcoran was in a lot of trouble when she finally got her home.

* * *

**AN: So? Any thoughts? Questions? Something that you would like to see?**

**I hope that, while I know everyone pretty much hates Frannie, sees that she is a bit more human than first thought. She really is trying, despite her drastic decisions. I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for all the reviews.**


	17. To Love, To Be Loved

**Chapter Seventeen: To Love, To Be Loved**

"Go up to your room, young lady, and I will be up in a moment. I want you to think about what you have done and do not even think about playing with anything when you get up there." Shelby told her youngest daughter, pointing up the stairs as the little girl sulked her way up the stairs.

When Shelby had gotten to the school to pick up Beth, after leaving Rachel at home half asleep but with the knowledge that her mother and sister would be home in forty-five minutes, she had not been happy. Beth and the little boy she had poured glue on were sitting outside the office with a chair between them. Both were swinging their legs because they couldn't reach the floor.

But that was not what got Shelby. What got Shelby was that the little boy was in tears, upset about being in trouble, and Beth was smiling as if she had no fear in the world. There was paint all over her shirt and she smirked at her mother as if she knew that she was going to get away with this behavior.

She better think again, Shelby thought to herself as she had walked into Mrs. Miller's office to talk to the woman.

Once she had gotten Beth into the car, after changing her shirt into a spare one that Shelby kept in the car, Shelby had questioned her about what had happened.

And Beth had told her that it wasn't any of her business.

It had taken all of Shelby's self control not to pull her car over and spank the petulant child in the backseat right that moment. Seriously? Was her five year old going to start talking back to her like her fourteen year old often did? Shelby wasn't quite sure if she was ready for that to happen.

"Mama?" Rachel said from the living room. She looked flushed, so Shelby walked over and felt her forehead. She wasn't warm, so Shelby suspected that she must be flushed from sleep.

"Do you need anything?" Shelby asked her.

Rachel shook her head no and then said, "I am a little hungry though."

"Okay, love. I have to deal with Beth first, but then I will make something to eat. How is your stomach feeling?" Shelby asked. Rachel had gotten used to answering that question because her Mom had been asking her several times a day since she had gotten sick. Today though, she had felt really good.

"I feel good. I still don't think that I can eat a lot at once, and I don't think that I can eat anything really fatty or heavy. But maybe something light…I kinda feel like eating some mashed potatoes. But I don't know if I can eat anything else with it." Rachel said.

"That's fine, Rach. I will make you some. I want you to tell me if you think you can't eat them though. I will make whatever you can keep down. I know that you are feeling a lot better and unless something changes you can go to school tomorrow, but you also haven't really eaten anything except toast for several days and kept it down."

"Okay." Rachel told her. Shelby nodded and tucked some of Rachel's hair behind her ear and then patted her cheek gently.

"Alright, I need to go deal with Beth. I will cook once I am finished." Shelby said, and then headed towards the stairs.

Rachel didn't know exactly what her little sister did because their Mom never talked about things that the sisters did wrong or how they were punished with the opposite sister. In fact, Rachel had learned fast not to ask about someone else's punishment, like Quinn or Kurt, unless they were punished together because otherwise she would get punished for being nosy. It had taken her a while to learn that lesson…she had probably spent more time in the corner for that than anything else. She had been surprised when her mother had told her that Beth had walked to Aunt Judy's the day before by herself, but of course then her mom had been in near hysterics before Aunt Judy had called her.

Shelby walked up the stairs and walked into Beth's room to see the little girl sitting on the floor playing with a puzzle she had.

"I thought I told you not to play when you got up here." Shelby said. Normally, Beth listened to her, which was why she had sent her to her own room. Rachel was the one who didn't listen and had to be sent to Shelby's room.

"I thought you knew how to knock too." Beth said.

Shelby's eyes narrowed down and she went and sat on Beth's bed and pulled the five year old up and in between her legs.

"What is wrong with you, Elizabeth? You never act like this." Shelby stared down at Beth who had crossed her arms over her little chest and pouted.

She had learned that move from Rachel. All the way down to her pouting lips, Shelby could see Rachel in the little girl. When had they decided to mimic one another?

"Am I going to have to remove your door as well?" Shelby asked. She had removed Rachel's door several days before for getting caught with Puck. So far, Rachel hadn't said anything, but she had been sick so Shelby knew it was probably coming.

"No. I don't think I should be in trouble at all." Beth told her mother.

"You poured paste all over your classmates head and you don't even seem to be upset about it."

"I'm not! He deserved it. I would do it again!" Beth yelled at her mother and tried to move out from between her mother's legs.

"Stop, Elizabeth! Why do you think that he deserved it?"

"Because he wouldn't shut up!" Beth said, still trying to wriggle away from her mother.

Shelby finally had had enough and smacked Beth's thigh once to get her to stop moving.

"Stop, young lady. Tell me why you thought he deserved to have glue poured over his head. Do you know how hard glue is to get out of your hair? That little boy will be lucky if they don't have to just cut his hair off." Shelby lectured her daughter.

"I don't care. I hope they do have to cut his hair off." Beth told her. She was trying to keep her tears at bay. That smack had hurt. It had hurt a lot.

"Elizabeth Francine." Shelby said warningly.

"Stop calling me that! Don't you dare call me that!" Beth yelled at her mother. She uncrossed her arms and raised her tiny hand to smack her mother for calling her that name like she would have Rachel if it had been her. Shelby was shocked. She didn't know what was with Rachel and Beth thinking that they could get away with hitting her, but she would send them to bed every night with a sore behind if she had too. Of course, Rachel had been very ill, but that was still no excuse.

Just before her hand made contact, Shelby had caught Beth's hand and then pulled her over her lap, "You do not hit, young lady," Shelby flipped her skirt up and pulled her Minnie Mouse underwear down.

"Your behavior today has been unacceptable, Elizabeth."

Shelby placed four smacks on each side of her daughters behind and then placed two on each sit spot at the base of her behind. Beth was screaming and crying loudly, as she always did during a spanking, but Shelby could tell that this time was different. It was partly Beth trying to get out of her spanking, but partly something else as well. She set the little girl up on her lap and let her cry.

After a few moments of Shelby rubbing her back, Shelby lifted her chin up so that she could look her in the eyes. Tears fell down the little girl's cheeks and she sniffed, rubbing her hand across her nose. Shelby picked up a shirt that was lying on the floor and wiped Beth's hand and face, then tossed it at the door so that she would remember to throw it in the dirty clothes hamper later.

"Beth, talk to me. What is wrong?"

"Don't call me that name anymore, Mommy. Please."

"What name, Beth?"

Beth's lip quivered and she whispered, "Francine."

"Baby, that is your middle name. Sometimes Mommy calls you that to get your attention when you are not listening to me."

"I don't want it no more."

"Tell me why." Shelby urged her.

"Cause that is her name. I don't want to be like her." Beth cried, and then moved to wrap her arms around her Mommy's neck and throw her legs on either side of her Mommy's lap.

"What do you mean, Beth?"

"My biogetical mother. That is her name. I hate her. And today Frankie Peterson said that his mommy and daddy loved him more than you loved me because you aren't my real mommy. But I didn't tell him that I was adapted, but he said his mommy told him that I was adapted and he said my real mommy wanted to throw me in a garden and let the gnomes take me back, but that you felt sorry for me and so you took me but you don't really love me, so I poured glue in his hair and told him that he was wrong, that you were my real mommy and my biogetical mother is not my real mommy. He poured paint on my shirt then, so I smacked him across the face, but Mrs. Almon came over and pulled us apart. I would have decked him harder like Rachie taught me, but she didn't give me a chance!" Beth sobbed.

Shelby pulled Beth back. In the back of her mind she knew that she had to ask Rachel when she had taught her little sister to 'deck' someone, but at the moment she could not focus on that.

"Beth, baby, you are a very special little girl. You have to ignore Frankie and people like him, Beth. He doesn't understand how much you are loved. You are my baby just like Rachel is, and I would never have let the garden gnomes take my baby. And can I tell you a secret?"

Beth nodded against Shelby's neck and tightened her grip.

"Your biological mommy didn't put you in the garden for the gnomes. She gave you straight to me so that you never had to worry about the garden or the dirt, or the worms and the gnomes. She knew how much you would hate the worms," Beth detested worms, "So, she handed you straight to me because she knew that Rachie and I were waiting on you at home because we love you so much."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Rachie and I love you very much."

"Okay." Beth whispered, and laid her head on Shelby's shoulder.

Shelby knew, though, that she couldn't let the misbehavior at school slide. She gently pulled Beth away from her and made the little girl look up at her.

"You know, Beth, that despite what Frankie said, you still should not have misbehaved at school, right? You know why that is naughty, correct?" Shelby asked.

Beth nodded, "Are you going to spank me again?" Beth asked, tears ready to fall down her face if the answer was yes.

"No. I spanked you already. I spanked you for misbehaving at school, being rude to me, and for raising your hand to hit me. You got four swats for each thing you did wrong. Okay?"

"Okay, Mommy. I am sorry that I was bad." Beth whispered as she leaned her head back on Shelby's shoulder.

"And you are forgiven, Love. I love you so much, Beth. You are my sweet pea, and I promise you that are a very special little girl."

"Thank you, Mommy."

Shelby kissed her forehead and rubbed her back.

"Come on, let's go make supper. Sister is feeling better and she wants mashed potatoes for supper."

"But I don't like mashed 'tatoes." Beth grumbled, finally moving her arm back to rub her backside.

"I know. We will cook something else for us. How about a cheeseburger since Sister doesn't like them anyways."

This caused Beth to smile. She loved cheeseburgers.

"Okay! Come on!" Beth said, jumping up and pulling on Shelby to get her to stand. Together the two of them walked down the steps so that they could make dinner. Shelby looked in on Rachel who was watching television and then followed Beth towards the kitchen where the little girl was already pulling out potatoes to help make her big sister's mashed potatoes.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Judy and Frannie Fabray sat on a couch in front of Will and Terri Shuester. Everyone was unsettled, nervous. Unsure.

Judy was finally the one to talk.

"Have the two of you talked? Made a decision? I refuse to let this happen if you are not absolutely sure that it will be permanent. Frannie is leaving her, if you decide to take Wilde, you must be sure. She needs a stable home. If the two of you are not able to give her that, my husband and I can. We do not mind raising her. In fact we would love too. However, we have discussed this at home and we all believe that it is only fair if Will has a chance. But Terri, you will have a big responsibility as well. You will, ultimately, become her mother, just as Shelby Corcoran is Beth's mother. Frannie is willing to sign away her rights so that you can adopt her." Judy had to stop for a moment. This was really hard for her as well. She was sad. She did want Wilde, but she also knew that if Will and Terri were willing, that they would be excellent parents. She could feel it.

"I do ask," Judy started again, "That if you choose to take her, to raise her, to love her, that you will continue to let us see her. She knows Russ and me as her grandparents already, she knows Quinn as her Aunt and, as odd as it seems since no one has told them, we think that on some level both Beth and Wilde realize that they are sisters. Frannie is leaving tomorrow and will, more than likely, not be back for some time."

Frannie was silent. She would let her mother do the talking. She would listen. She would watch them. She had always had a way of reading people.

Terri stood up and walked over to Frannie and knelt down in front of her. She grabbed her hand and held it in hers until Frannie finally looked into Terri's tear filled eyes.

"She is part of Will…I already love her. I loved her the moment that Will told me about her. It was like…like something…inside me grew to make room for her. I can take care of her, love her, as if she was born from me. I knew it the moment Will told me about everything. I can do that for her. I can do that for you."

Frannie had tears in her eyes. She could tell. She could tell that Terri Shuester could and would mother her daughter.

"Her eating habits are atrocious. But Mom told me that Beth eats exactly the same way. She still wets the bed sometimes, but she is getting better. You can't get on to her about it, it only makes it worse and upsets her. Just give her a warm bath and help her change into some warm pajamas. She hates being cold. She likes to play pretend, and to be read to…it was the only time she would ever willingly let me hold her. She likes to eat ketchup with her green beans and ranch dressing with her pickles. She hates wearing socks, and it is a battle every morning during the winter even though she doesn't like to be cold. She has to be told that you love her, every single day. And when she asks about me in a year, or ten, tell her that I had to leave her because this was for her. This is what she needed. Her favorite color is green, and she wants to be Tinker Bell for Halloween. She doesn't like candy, but she likes to dress up. Most of all, if she will let you, please hug her every day. She will know…she will know that you are going to take care of her, better care of her than I ever did. You just have to show her that you love her."

Terri had tears falling down her cheeks. So did Judy and Will. Terri reached up and wrapped her arms around Frannie's shoulders and whispered in her ear, "I will do all of that, I promise you that. I will love her. And I will love you for allowing me such a precious gift. I already feel like she is part of me, and I have not even met her. I know that once I meet her that that feeling will only intensify."

"Please let my family be a part of her life. She deserves a lot of peoples' love."

"We would never take her family away from her. She will always have her family."

"Thank you." Frannie whispered.

Frannie breathed a sigh of relief. Her babies would be taken care of.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

By that weekend, Frannie was gone and Wilde was officially moved in with Will and Terri after Frannie explained to her that Will was her daddy and Terri was going to be her second mommy. Frannie never wanted Wilde to think that she had given her to the Sheuster's for any other reason than the fact that she loved her terribly. Termination and adoption papers had been signed in front of a lawyer, and quietly, just past eight at night after whispering goodbye to her parents and her little sister, Frannie Fabray left. She left feeling lighter than she had in over six years, and while there was a hole in her heart from the fact that she had left behind her daughter and would leave behind her other daughter again, Frannie knew that she had done the right thing.

Things would be very different for Wilde now. For, just as Frannie was leaving Lima city limits, Will and Terri were tucking Wilde into the hastily redecorated guest room that fit the girl perfectly. Wilde cried, but quieted down when Will sat down and read to her, and Terri kissed her gently good night. At that moment, Wilde crawled into Terri's lap and put her tiny hand on Will's arm as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Perhaps the most peaceful sleep she had ever achieved.

Will and Terri Shuester realized they had never been this happy. They had not even realized what they were missing, but now they could never go without it.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Why do I have to go to Aunt Judy's?" Rachel asked her Mom as Shelby ushered her and Beth to the car.

"Because, we, along with Mr. Shuester and his wife and Wilde, were invited to lunch and we are all going. Don't even think about trying to come up with an excuse to stay home because remember what happened last Sunday."

Rachel sighed and got into the car slamming the door and snatching her seatbelt from her right side so that she could click it into place.

Shelby helped Beth into her seat and then climbed into the driver's seat and clicked her own seatbelt into place.

"We get to see Wilde, Mommy? Rachie, did you know that she was my biogetical sister?"

Shelby had spent several hours over the past couple of days explaining who Wilde really was and who Will and Terri were. Shelby had known, practically since the moment she had discovered that Will was Beth's father, that she wanted the man to be part of Beth's life, but she told him that it would have to be similar to the relationship Judy and Russ had with Beth. He would have to be more like an uncle to the small girl because Shelby was her parent. Will had agreed immediately, and Terri, who had been with them while they talked, had told her that she would love to be an aunt to the little girl. Beth now knew that Will was her biological father, but that he was more like an uncle. It had taken a while to explain things to Beth, who, in the end, simply said, "Well, yea, Mommy, he helped my biogetical mother give me to you so the gnomes and worms wouldn't mess with me in the garden."

Shelby had simply nodded. If that worked for her child for now, that was fine. She was only five after all.

"It is biological, stupid."

"Whatever." Beth said.

"Rachel Barbra! Do not call your sister stupid!"Shelby scolded as she backed out of the driveway.

The rest of the ride was quiet, which Shelby was thankful for. Rachel had been in a funny mood since Thursday, and she didn't know why. Shelby had had to spend more time with Beth explaining to her as best she could about the things that were going on, and Rachel had distanced herself from all the conversations. Shelby thought that it was most likely due to her getting over being sick for the better part of two weeks.

They arrived at the house, pulling into the driveway right behind the Shuester's. Rachel jumped out of the car and ran into the house without so much as a knock or hi to the elder Fabray's, and went up to Quinn's room. She did knock here, but didn't wait for the Quinn to say anything and walked in.

Quinn looked up from her desk, her eyes wide.

"I am sorry that I made out with Puck to get back at you for the slushie." Rachel told her.

Quinn stood up and stared at Rachel for a few seconds.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about. It was my fault. I threw that stupid drink at you when I knew how bad they made you feel. I mean, I know that you don't really like Puck anyways, and I did make out with Finn, so can we just call this one even and never be this shitty of friends again?" Quinn asked her.

Rachel nodded and then stepped up to her and wrapped her arms around her.

"Yea, I think that is best." She said and wrapped her arms around Rachel.

When they finally released one another, Quinn grinned at Rachel and Rachel backed up a bit.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"I wanna see the tattoo. I can't believe you went without me."

"I was mad at you." Rachel said with one eyebrow raised higher than the other. She did finally look down and unbutton her jeans so that she could pull the right side of her pants down so that Quinn could inspect the artwork.

"Rach, that is legit. I love it." Quinn said, eyeing the piece intently.

"We can always go get you one. Though Mom found out about my fake ID. I bet I could get Puck to make me another free of charge. He is terrified of Mom now though."

"Maybe…" Quinn said, "how are you feeling about this whole Mr. Shue and Mrs. Shue thing?" Quinn asked Rachel. Quinn knew that things often affected Rachel differently than they did her recently, so she was curious about how the other girl was feeling.

Rachel sighed and looked at Quinn and shrugged.

"It hurts that Beth is so excited that Wilde is her 'biogetical' sister. It bothers me a bit because she is my little sister."

"Yea…" Quinn said. She understood that in a way.

Quinn then noticed her door open and Judy walked in.

"Are you girls ready for lunch?" Judy asked them, sitting on the edge of Quinn's bed.

"Yea," Quinn said, at the same time Rachel said, "No."

Rachel's anger at Judy had renewed that day since Beth kept talking about how excited she was about her sister. It pissed Rachel off and she didn't know why. Part of her, though, still blamed Judy.

Judy could look at Rachel and tell that something was bothering her. She had thought as much when Rachel had stormed into the house without saying anything to her or Russ.

"Rachel, I would like to speak to you in your room."

Quinn looked up at her mother with surprise. What had just happened?

"No, thank you. I would rather go downstairs with Quinn, thank you very much."

Rachel looked at Judy with daring eyes. She was challenging her Aunt Judy and they both knew it. Judy was actually surprised since they had talked about disrespect only a few days prior.

"Do you want to run that by me again, Rachel?"

"I said that I would rather go downstairs. I don't have to talk to you if I don't want too, and guess what I don't want too. I am not sick anymore, so I can stick up for myself whether you like it or not."

"I am going to give you until the count of five to get your behind into your room so that you and I can have a little chat. I am not going to put up with this today, young lady."

Quinn was standing back watching the battle before her transform. It wasn't like Rachel to challenge Judy like this, so Quinn was really surprised.

"My Mom is here, so you can't tell me what to do." Rachel snapped. Judy's eyes widened. When in the world had Rachel gotten that impression?

* * *

**AN: So, I was going to add more to this chapter; however, I felt that this was a good place to stop because otherwise there woul not have been a chapter today since I did't finish it last night like I normally would and I am going out later and won't be back until tomorrow. I hope that you all liked this chapter. It was a tough chapter to write, and I am not sure about it. Let me know what you think:)**

**Thanks for all of the amazing reviews. You guys make me want to update because of your kind words, else I do not think I would care whether the chapters were updated frequently or not. **

**Thanks again, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Up Next: Ha, always some drama...**


	18. Powder and Flour

**Chapter Eighteen: Powder and Flour**

"Fine." Judy said to Rachel and then turned towards Quinn, "Quinn, go get your Aunt Shel for me. Tell her that we will be in Rachel's room." Judy told her daughter. Quinn didn't hesitate. She didn't want to be in the middle of this. This was in no way her battle.

Judy grabbed Rachel's arm and pulled her one door down, through the door with her name spelled out in golden stars. Rachel fought her the entire way but didn't say anything. She didn't want anyone downstairs hearing and she wasn't quite brave enough to lash out more than to pull against her Aunt Judy. But it did no good. Judy was determined and that outranked anything Rachel could throw her way.

"What the hell are you doing? You don't have any right to scold me when I have done nothing wrong!" Rachel yelled, pulling against Judy as hard as she could once they were in Rachel's room and the door was shut behind them.

"I beg to differ, young lady, and you had best watch your language. What is with the attitude? I thought that we talked about this the other day?"

"That was before!"

"Before what, Rachel?" Judy asked her, genuinely confused.

"It obviously doesn't matter to you; you just want me to be in trouble! You don't care about me!"

"What is going on here, Rachel Barbra?" Shelby's voice came from the now open door. Quinn had come downstairs and told her that Judy wanted her, and once she had gotten to the top of the stairs she had heard the battle taking place between Judy and Rachel.

"Tell her that she can't tell me what to do if you are here!" Rachel shouted, struggling in Judy's grip.

Shelby just shook her head. Why could Rachel not behave for more than a few days at a time lately? It was getting frustrating.

"Judy, I trust that you can handle whatever it is that is going on up here. I will go check on supper and have Quinn set the dining room table." Shelby said, not even looking at Rachel. Rachel knew good and well that Judy could and would discipline her if necessary just as Shelby would discipline Quinn and Kurt.

"Mom!" Rachel hissed.

Shelby turned and walked out of the room and down the stairs shaking her head. She didn't know what had gotten into Rachel. Of course, Shelby felt that way all the time now. Since the week before school started Rachel was always into something. Shelby knew that part of it was because of Leroy and the things that Rachel had learned and still part of it was Frannie showing up in their lives. And, yet, Shelby felt that some of it was still just teenage rebellion on some level.

Back in Rachel's room, Judy still had a hold of Rachel's arm and was staring at the young girl.

"What is wrong with you, Rachel?"

"What do you care?" Rachel shouted back at her.

"Stop yelling at me, young lady."

"I'll yell if I want too! You are the one who shouldn't be telling me what to do! You don't care about me. You don't care about anyone but your own fucking family, and I finally realized that that doesn't include me! It is just Wilde and Beth! They are your family! I hate you!" Rachel screamed, her eyes aflame with fury and angry tears.

Judy sat on the bed as Rachel screamed at her and pulled Rachel over her lap, bringing her hand down on Rachel's backside.

Still, Rachel hissed.

"I hate you!"

Judy didn't say anything, she merely counted out thirteen more swats in her head and then stood Rachel in front of her. Rachel had angry tears falling down her face, but she didn't try to get away from Judy this time.

"I am sorry that you feel that way, Rachel, because I love you very much." Judy said, staring intensely into Rachel's caramel eyes.

"You don't love me." Rachel said, her fierce façade finally breaking.

"Oh yes I do. You are a gift. One that I love very much."

"Beth knows that Wilde is her biological sister. It is completely like she forgot that I am her real sister once Mom explained everything to her." Rachel whispered. Real tears now fell down her face. Tears of pain and hurt.

"Oh Rachel, she knows that you are her sister. Beth loves you." Judy said, rubbing Rachel's arms.

"I don't know if she does now." Rachel said sorrowfully.

"Yes you do. You know that. You, Rachel, you, not Wilde, are Beth's real sister. Wilde is her biological sister. They will not be raised in the same house. Ultimately, they will be raised as cousins. They will know they are sisters, yes. They might even grow to become very close friends. But Rachel, you are Beth's sister."

"I don't know if I can handle much more of this not knowing. Of all this stuff falling on us unexpectedly." Rachel sobbed. She rubbed her head and then crawled onto her bed to lay down on her stomach, her head by Judy's lap.

"You want to tell me what all the attitude was about? We just talked about your attitude a few days ago. I hate having to spank you, Rachel, but I will do it again and again if necessary. Because I love you, Rachel. But I know that you have to be tired of getting into trouble for this silly things you do." Judy told her.

"You won't want me around anymore. Not now. Not since there is Wilde."

"Rachel. Do you think I only have room for three little girls in my life? I can easily add Wilde without having to knock you out. I love you, Rachel. Quinn loves you. Russ loves you. Beth loves you. Everyone in this family loves you."

"Okay." Rachel whispered, reaching back to rub her stinging behind.

"Come on. It is time for us to go and eat after you wash your face." Judy said, standing up.

"Can't I stay up here? Please, Aunt Judy?" Rachel asked. She didn't want to sit down at the table with everyone. Not only would it hurt to sit, but everyone downstairs probably knew that she was in trouble. How embarrassing would that be? The only good thing about Aunt Judy was that while she could spank quite well, she didn't spank nearly as well as her Mom.

"No, you are coming downstairs. We are having a family dinner. It is the first one with Will and Terri and Wilde. Come on."

Rachel sighed. This was going to suck. "It is going to be embarrassing." Rachel whined.

Judy laughed lightly and helped Rachel off the bed, "They need to get used to the trouble that goes on around here. You, Quinn, and Kurt are always into something. I am sure that Will knows that already. Don't worry so much, Rachel. They won't say anything."

Five minutes later, Shelby met Judy and Rachel at the bottom of the stairs. She gently took Rachel by the upper arm and whispered in her ear, "Are you better now?"

Rachel nodded. She knew that her mom wouldn't punish her for what happened because Aunt Judy already had, but that probably wouldn't save her from the lecture she was sure to get when they went home. That was okay though. She felt that there were a few things that she and her Mom needed to talk about anyways after she had finished talking to Aunt Judy upstairs. Rachel knew that she hadn't been easy to live with lately, and she wasn't sure why she constantly took everything out on people, mainly her mom. It was like some cliché novel about teenagers.

"Okay. I am glad. We can talk when we get home, but I am glad that you are in a better mood now."

Again, Rachel nodded and wrapped one arm around her mother's waist to get a quick hug. Shelby quickly obliged.

Together, the three walked into the dining room where Russ and Will were talking animatedly about one sport or another, Quinn was talking to Terri, and Wilde and Beth were talking quietly about something.

Beth looked up and smiled.

"Sister! Come sit with me an' Wilde!" Beth said, patting the seat she was in and moving one over so that Rachel could sit between the two little girls.

Rachel looked over at Judy. Judy had her eyebrow raised in an 'I told you so' fashion. Rachel just shook her head and walked over to the seat between her little sister and the little sister of her sister.

And she smiled.

"I am glad that you and Mrs. Shue were able to have supper with us, Mr. Shue." Rachel told the couple. Rachel and Will only dealt with one another in Glee, and they often butted heads over music. They still got along nicely though.

Will looked at Rachel and smiled. They had all heard the murmured shouts upstairs, but from the look of things and what he knew about Rachel Corcoran, it was probably a not so seldom occurrence. He knew that Rachel Corcoran was a spitfire. She had big dreams and big ideas. Not everyone fit into her ideas and he was pleased to see her sitting between Beth and Wilde. He had known from Judy that Beth and Rachel, while siblings to the end, loved each other very much.

"You can call me Will while we are out of school, Rachel." He told her.

"Thank you."

"And you may always call me Terri." Will's wife said from the other side of Wilde.

"Yea, she is my second Mommy." Wilde said, leaning into the woman's side, "And he is my Daddy!"

Rachel smiled at the little girl. Rachel had actually never really heard her talk. It was sweet to hear that the child was already growing accustomed to her new living arrangements.

"And Rachie is my big sister, Wilde, so that kinda makes her yours too. She and Quinnie and Kurt protect us. You will meet Kurt another day."

Rachel looked at Judy and then Shelby who were sitting side by side. Their smiles were impossibly wide.

But no smile matched that of Rachel's in that moment of total inclusion to her family.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

At home that night, Shelby tucked in Beth and sang her to sleep then went into Rachel's room. Rachel was already in her bed, lying down despite the fact that it was nearly an hour and a half before her bedtime. Shelby knew that she was still worn out from being sick and it had been a tiring day.

"Will you lay with me?" Rachel asked her mother when she noticed her standing in the doorless doorway.

"Of course." Shelby said, walking over to the bed and lying beside Rachel. Shelby wrapped her arms around Rachel and pulling her back towards her so that her back was to her chest.

"Mama…"

"Yes?"

"I am sorry for what happened at Aunt Judy's." Rachel said. Shelby hadn't brought it up after they had gotten home, but it had been on Rachel's mind.

"I know you are. I knew when you came downstairs. Why'd you have such an attitude?" Shelby asked her gently.

Rachel was quiet for a while and Shelby let her get her thoughts together.

She cleared her throat and snuggled backwards even closer to her Mom.

"There is too much going on. Our lives keep getting shook up and I don't know where I fit all the time. I don't like not knowing what is going happen every day, Mama. I don't like all the surprises that keep popping up. I think it just keeps building up and then it is like it explodes before I even know what is going on."

Shelby put her chin on top of Rachel's head and thought about what her child had just told her. Rachel was right. A lot had been happening. A lot that affected all of the children involved.

"Things will calm down eventually, Rach. But you have got to watch your attitude. I am tired of you needing to be punished. Don't you want to go a couple weeks without getting into trouble?"

Rachel nodded. Yes, she would love to not get into trouble.

But it was like at times she couldn't control her temper, her attitude, or her mouth.

"I'll try." Rachel whispered. Her mom was rubbing her arms gently, and it was about to make her fall asleep. She could feel it.

"Quinn is going to come stay with us Sunday. Aunt Judy called me right after you came upstairs. She and Uncle Russ have to go out of town until next Saturday, so I am going to pick Quinn up Sunday afternoon while they are getting ready to leave. I noticed that you and she were talking a bit more at supper."

"Yea. Before everything happened with Aunt Judy, we made up. It's been a week and it isn't like I didn't mess up just as much as she did even if she did throw that slushie on me."

"I think that you both did things that you shouldn't have. I am glad that the two of you made up."

"I missed her." Rachel said sleepily as she yawned.

"I know you did, baby."

"Are you mad that I was bad at Aunt Judy's?"

Shelby had to try hard to control her laugh. She could tell that Rachel was very near sleep. Rachel never used the word 'bad' to describe herself.

"No. I am not mad. Aunt Judy handled it. It was not me you disrespected, but her. She talked to you the other day about your attitude, and it was her you continued to misbehave with. I still am not sure why you thought it was a good idea to tell her that she wasn't allowed to punish you because I was there. You know better than that."

Rachel sighed.

"Yea." Rachel said, finally drifting off to sleep. Shelby laid there for several more moments to make sure that Rachel was completely asleep before she got up and tucked the blankets around her and placed her stuffed duck behind her. Shelby kissed her forehead and then went and checked on Beth once more. Shelby always valued the early nights, the nights when both of her kids were asleep and safe, and she had the time to soak in the bath and listen to a soft wave of classical music while she just relaxed without a worry in the world.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Several miles away, Judy was braiding Quinn's hair, at the girl's request, before she laid down. Judy knew that this was her opportunity to talk to Quinn about the things that Frannie had told her before she left. Judy was not sure how the conversation was going to go, but she knew that it had to happen regardless.

After Judy finished braiding her daughter's hair, she kissed her forehead, "Let's go sit in your bed and talk about a few things."

Quinn looked at her mother in confusion, but nodded. She wasn't quite sure why her mom wanted to talk to her about, but she knew that it must be serious from the way that her mother was acting.

The two sat at the headboard and leaned against it. Quinn looked at her mother nervously.

"There is no reason to look so afraid, Quinnie."

"You want to talk to me though. The last time that you wanted to talk to me, I was in a lot of trouble for throwing a slushie at Rachel." Quinn mumbled.

"True. But this time, I want to talk to you about sex," Judy was straight to the point and Quinn started to open her mouth, but Judy held her hand up to stop her.

"No, Quinnie. I know that you don't want to talk about this, and I know that we have talked about the physical and medical aspect of it when you got your period, and a few other times since then. But I want to talk to you about something different."

Quinn nodded. She looked at her mother and then laid her head over on Judy's lap.

"Frannie told me that you thought about having sex with that Puckerman boy this summer."

Quinn closed her eyes and a tear slid down the side of her face.

"I am not mad about it. I don't trust the Puckerman boy, not after the things that I have heard and then catching him with Rachel, but that is not the point, Quinn. Baby, you are only fifteen years old. You are not ready for sex. Your feelings…your feelings are so attached to everything you do, what do you think would happen if you just gave a random boy one of the most valuable things you own?"

"I don't know." Quinn whispered. She turned onto her stomach, her head still in Judy's lap, and then wrapped her right arm around Judy's left leg.

"I don't want you to make a hasty decision that you regret later, Quinn. I want you to be absolutely sure when you have sex for the first time. Would you have been absolutely sure this summer?"

Quinn sniffed.

"No."

"Why are you crying, baby?" Judy wiped the tears away from Quinn's face.

"I don't want you to be disappointed in me. I didn't have sex with him, but I almost did. And I let him…touch me…" Quinn blushed. She hadn't meant to say that last part. It had kind of just slipped out. But she didn't feel like hiding anything, not really.

"You let him touch you how?" Judy asked gently. She wanted there to be no secrets between them. She and Frannie had had secrets and they had not made it through it.

Quinn swallowed deeply. She knew there was no turning back now. She wasn't going to lie to her mom. She didn't want to be Frannie. Frannie had told her that she needed to talk to her mom.

"I let him touch me, you know, where I shouldn't have let him, and I touched him, too. We were thinking about having sex, but when it came down to it, when we got close, I couldn't go through with it. He was…not really happy, but he said that he understood. Then a couple of weeks later was when he and Rachel were messing around in her room, and I had made out with Finn. And I realized that it was all just really…confusing."

Judy ran her fingers softly over Quinn's head and gently massaged Quinn's temple, "That is why I know that you are not ready. Relationships are hard enough when you are young. If you add sex to it, it becomes even more so. Sex complicates things, Quinnie. It is hard enough to be an adult and have a sexual relationship with someone. Feelings and emotions are involved, and things change."

"I am so sorry, Mom." Quinn cried, burying her head in Judy's stomach.

"Baby, I told you, I am not mad at you. I am not mad at all. I just want you to promise me that you will come to me before you decide to take that step. That you will promise me that we will talk about the steps you need to take before you take that major step, whether it is a month or ten years from now. Even if I don't agree with you, I will always be here to help you make the right decisions concerning this and everything else that ever comes up."

"I promise, Mom. And I know that you are here for me."

"Good girl." Judy said, patting her daughter's back. She knew that Quinn knew that she wasn't ready for sex, and she felt comfortable in the fact that Quinn would come and talk to her before she made the final decision. That was all Judy could do, and she was happy with it.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Okay, I am going to buy groceries and pick up Quinn on my way back. I am taking Beth, but I would appreciate it if you two would not destroy anything, get any tattoos, piercings, invite any guys over, or anything else that you know that I will not approve of. Do both of you understand me?" Shelby asked Rachel and Kurt, eyeing them carefully because she was really not wild about leaving the two of them at home alone after the last time.

"Mom, we will be fine. We are just going to watch television." Rachel sighed. She wanted to roll her eyes, but that would probably not hold well with her mother. Apparently, her mother had not been happy when she and Kurt had awakened her at three that morning by their laughter. She had, in turn, woke them up at eight that morning and made them clean the basement out.

Rachel was positive that it wasn't dirty, but her mother had made them move the boxes around and put them in some random order, and then they had been made them dust, sweep, and mop. They didn't finish until like eleven, and by then they both felt like they needed naps. Shelby had disagreed.

"Do you both remember what you are supposed to do while I am gone before you watch television?"

This time, Rachel did roll her eyes.

Kurt elbowed her.

"Yes, Auntie Shel, we are supposed to vacuum the downstairs and make sure all the dishes are put up." Kurt said.

Shelby nodded and then ushered Beth out the door with an odd feeling.

"I will be back in about an hour and a half." Shelby said shaking off the weird vibe she was getting.

She and Beth left soon after that and headed to the grocery store.

Kurt started putting away the dishes while Rachel was vacuuming. He heard the vacuum cleaner turn off, but he didn't think anything of it as he started to place cups in the cabinet when all of a sudden he was covered in something white and almost sweet smelling. He dropped the glass in his hand to the floor where it shattered.

His eyes and mouth wide, he turned to stare at Rachel who was laughing hysterically, and pushed the bottle of baby powder that she had found in her mother's bathroom again, spraying the fine powder all over Kurt, and then turning to run out of the room.

"Oh you are going to pay for that, Rachel Corcoran!" Kurt grabbed the thick jar labeled flour on the counter and pulled it over to him. He took the lid off of it and grabbed the sack that was sitting in the jar and then, after jumping over the glass on the floor, ran after Rachel.

"Oh Rachel…" Kurt called, sneaking around the corner in the living room.

"Yes?" Rachel asked sweetly from behind Kurt. Kurt spun around and was greeted with more powder.

This time, though, Kurt was ready and threw a handful of flour at Rachel. The fight was really on then, as the two ran around the house throwing powder and flour at one another.

"Watch the glass in the kitchen!" Rachel yelled as she jumped over the glass because Kurt was chasing her through the kitchen back into the living room and then up the stairs. Rachel then jumped off the stairs, over the banister, (thanking everything in the world that her mom wasn't there to see it since she had been told numerous times not to climb over that banister…it didn't help that the last time she had done it, she had falling and busted her knee resulting in six stitches) and ran into the kitchen and the pantry so that she could get another sack of flour.

She hadn't counted on Kurt following her in there. He threw a handful of the flour on her, and she jumped, falling into one set of shelves.

That immediately fell down around Rachel. She covered her head with her arms as jars and boxes smashed around her.

"Holy shit!" Kurt yelled.

"Kurt! I am going to kill you!" Rachel yelled, throwing a box of macaroni at Kurt who barely dodged it.

"Kurt."

"Yea?" he asked, stepping back as he did.

"You had better run!" Rachel shouted and then jumped up and ran after him. He ran into the living room just as Rachel tackled him to the ground and sat on top of him.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Kurt yelled, laughing.

Rachel busted out laughing too.

Until she heard a car door slam out front.

She looked up at a clock that her mom had hanging on the wall and then swallowed.

"Oh shit."

"What?" Kurt said. Then he heard the key turn in the outside door lock.

"Oh…We have to hide!" Rachel said, standing up and grabbing Kurt's hand and pulling him up with her.

"What? How are we going to hide this?" Kurt asked quickly.

Rachel turned to look at the mess around her, for the first time actually realizing how much of a mess was actually there. She stared at Kurt like he was insane. Hide this? He had to be kidding.

"Oh…shit, shit, shit….come on!" Rachel pulled Kurt towards the stairs. They were halfway up the stairs when they heard a "What the _hell_?" come from Shelby.

"Come on, Kurt!" Rachel pulled him towards the stairs, and then up a second set of stairs up in the attic where Kurt's bedroom was. His room had been created by using half of the attic. He had asked Shelby if his room could be up there when he was younger because at his parents' house his bedroom was in the basement. Shelby had told him that he could, and within two weeks had a wall built, the walls painted, and everything decorated the way Kurt wanted it. He also had a nice sized closet.

Where he and Rachel headed to once they got into his room. They shut the door just as they heard, "Rachel Barbra Corcoran! Kurt Christopher Hummel!"

They both sat side by side, their hands clutched together.

They hadn't hid from Shelby since they were nine. This wasn't something new. They had definitely hid from her before to try and get out of trouble.

That time had been different though. They had stayed up watching a scary movie that they weren't allowed to watch and the next day Shelby had found the DVD in the player…a DVD that she had no idea where it come from. As soon as they saw her opening the player, they took off running to hide from Shelby to try and evade the trouble they knew they were in.

This was so much bigger than that. There was flour and powder all over the place.

The door to the closet opened and Rachel and Kurt looked up sheepishly.

Shelby had her hands on her hips and was glaring down at them.

"Hi, Mama."

"Hi, Auntie Shel."

Both kids grinned cheekily at her.

"You could have at least found a spot to hide in better than this since you thought it wise to hide from me. It didn't work when you were nine, and it sure didn't work this time. Let's go." Shelby pointed towards the door that leas downstairs.

Rachel and Kurt merely looked at each other and swallowed.

Uh-oh.

* * *

**AN: Thank you guys so much for all of the awesome reviews. I hope that you all liked this chapter...I really struggled with it for quite some time. Let me know what you think:)**


	19. Boy oh Boy

**Chapter Nineteen: Boy oh Boy**

Rachel and Kurt walked downstairs with Shelby close behind them. They weren't too fond of her walking behind them, but it wasn't like they had a choice.

Thankfully, Shelby didn't do anything but usher them into the kitchen.

Rachel's eyes widened when she saw the mess that was the stairs, kitchen, and living room. The kitchen was the worst since the pantry was a mess of broken jars and messy liquids and sludge where the liquids had mixed with the flour. The groceries that Shelby had bought were sitting in the hallway, though she had Quinn putting the cold stuff up so that no more food was ruined.

"What were you two thinking?" Shelby rounded on them with her hands on her hips. She couldn't believe the amount of powder and flour that was lying all over the house. It was crazy.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that I was dealing with two toddlers. The pantry is in shatters, there is glass all over the kitchen floor, and there is flour and powder everywhere, including on the two of you!"

Kurt and Rachel looked at each other. It was hard not to burst out laughing, but by the look on Shelby's face, they knew that that would probably not be very wise.

"Would you believe that this was a complete accident?" Rachel asked her mother. The glare that her mother gave her made her take several steps backwards.

"No. I would not believe that."

"We thought we would have it cleaned up before you got back." Kurt added, though it wasn't completely true, as the fight had been impromptu, and had only ended when they heard the car door slam shut when Shelby had gotten home.

"Are there any more excuses that either of you would like to add?" Shelby asked sarcastically. Her house had been clean when she left. Very clean.

"We are really sorry, Mom." Rachel said, giving her mother puppy dog eyes that always worked on everyone.

Except her mother. Shelby's own eyes narrowed and she glared at the two miscreants in front of her. She had created every look that Rachel ever tried to use and they had no affect on the mother except to anger her more because she knew that Rachel was trying to play her. After fourteen, nearly fifteen years, one would think that Rachel would learn.

"I guess I am going to have to stop leaving the two of you alone. Last weekend one of you gets a tattoo and then invites a boy over unsupervised while the other assists in both incidents. Then this weekend you both act like toddlers and throw powder and flour all over my house. You are both fixing to clean this house until it is free from baby powder and flour. I cannot believe that the two of you would do this." Shelby said, staring at the ceiling.

"Um, are we…grounded?" Rachel asked. Again, Shelby narrowed her eyes.

"It depends on how well you clean my house." Shelby said, pointing towards the kitchen. Shelby reached out and grabbed Kurt's arm and gave him one stinging swat and then grabbed Rachel and did the same before sending them on their way. Both of them were rubbing the stinging spot when they walked past a smug Quinn on their way to the kitchen.

Rachel, turning to find her mother talking to Beth who was staring in awe at the now basically white living room, turned around and grabbed as much flour and powder as she could and threw it in Quinn's face.

Quinn stood there, shocked, but didn't retaliate. Hell, she was just excited that she wasn't in trouble and didn't have to help clean up this mess.

"Aunt Shel, I can take Beth upstairs to watch TV." Quinn said.

Shelby turned around and looked at Quinn and sighed. Rachel, she knew, had been the one to throw the flour at Quinn.

"Fine, wash that stuff off of your face first though. And you and Beth had better stay out of trouble."

Quinn smiled angelically and nodded.

"Of course, Aunt Shel."

Shelby took a deep breath and sighed before she walked into the kitchen. She had had to tell Beth that, under no circumstances, was she to ever repeat this incident because Kurt and Rachel were in a lot of trouble. Shelby had seen the look of admiration in Beth's five year old eyes. Shelby had to nip that in the bud and quickly.

Rachel and Kurt looked at her expectedly. Where in the world were they supposed to start cleaning in this mess?

Rachel reached her hand over to a pile of flour that sat on the cabinet and scooped up another handful and raised her hand up to throw it when…

"Rachel Barbra, do not even think about it! What are the two of you waiting on? Rachel, started sweeping up the glass in the pantry, Kurt start sweeping up the glass in front of the sink." Rachel's eyes were wide. Her mom hadn't even been looking at her! Both kids hurriedly grabbed brooms out of the pantry and started to sweep. Rachel wanted to vomit. All of the food mixing together was disgusting. She hated food mixing together.

She gagged.

Shelby rolled her eyes. Of course her daughter wouldn't even be able to clean up food that had mixed together by accident. When it came to her food, Rachel had such a weak stomach.

"Rachel, good grief, child. Go start vacuuming the living room." Shelby said. That was all she needed, was to have Rachel throw up into the mess. That would make it even worse, and then Shelby would still have to clean it up.

Shelby took the broom from Rachel as the girl gagged once more and nodded.

"Thanks, Mama." Rachel said, hurrying out of the living room. Once Rachel was in the living room dusting the vacuum cleaner that she had left in the middle of the room off so that she could use it to vacuum up the flour, Kurt laughed from where he was cleaning up glass.

"And what, may I ask, Kurt Hummel, is so funny?"

Kurt stopped and looked at Shelby like she was insane.

"Auntie Shel, you just tried to get Rachel to clean up mixed food. She can barely watch Beth eat pancakes, eggs, and bacon without throwing up."

Shelby looked at him. He definitely had a point.

"I don't know what I was thinking." Shelby muttered to herself as she heard the vacuum cleaner come on.

"I think someone needs a vacation." Kurt said in a sing-song voice and then laughing.

Shelby just smiled at him. Yes, she definitely needed a vacation.

"When you are finished with that, I want you to start sweeping up all of this powder and flour." Shelby told him.

Over the next two hours, Shelby hovered over the two teens to make sure that they stayed on top of everything. She had sneaked a few pictures with her phone so that she could send to Judy, Leah, and Carole, and then hovered some more over the heathens who had turned her downstairs area into a bakery explosion.

She knew one thing; the kids would never play that game again.

Once they were finished cleaning, both children were dragging and having trouble keeping their eyes opened despite the early hour. It was only going on five. Shelby made them go out into the yard and stand, where she took a dust pan brush and proceeded to lecture them as she dusted them off.

"Now I know when I left this house earlier, I told the two of you to behave. Now, obviously leaving you both alone is too hard on the two of you and you need constant supervision," Shelby swiped at the mixture of white on Rachel's behind a little harder than necessary Rachel thought, "and from now on, I will not be able to do so. At least for the foreseeable future," she did the same to Kurt, who wanted to take a few steps away from the crazy woman who he was sure wanted to whack him with that brush for real, "and I know that when you were nine I told you that under no circumstances are you to ever hide from me when you think that you are in trouble or any other time for that matter. What did the two of you think that was going to accomplish? I knew who caused the mess and I knew where the two of you were hiding by the trail of white and the not so original hiding spot. So, it would be wise on both of your parts if you never hide from me again, for next time it most certainly will get you into more trouble. Now, do either of you have anything you would like to add?" Shelby asked them, swiping at both of their already clean backsides once more before she straightened up and stood in front of them.

"We are really sorry, Mom." Rachel added.

"Yea, we are really sorry, Auntie Shel, we just weren't thinking."

Shelby looked at them with raised eyebrows. Obviously they hadn't been thinking.

"Well, it had better never happen again. You are both fourteen years old, nearly fifteen. Next time, you will be punished worse than you were this time. Understood?" Shelby said, eyeing them both carefully.

They were all silent for a few moments when Rachel finally spoke up, "Soo…we are not in trouble anymore?" she asked tentatively.

Shelby eyed them both for several more seconds. It was good to make them sweat it out a little bit.

She could tell how nervous they both were.

"No, you are not in trouble anymore. So how about we go and fix supper before Burt comes to get Kurt, and then we'll make it an early night since you have school tomorrow and I can tell you are tired. You are still getting better, and I don't want a relapse because you acted like a heathen and then didn't get enough sleep."

Rachel couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.

Then Kurt and Rachel both threw their arms around Shelby and hugged her tight, the flour and powder that was still in their hair ending up on her shoulder.

She took a deep breath, "Okay, come on; let's go." She said, and ushered the two kids into the house, shaking her head the entire way.

These children were going to give her grey hair, and she quite liked her dark brown locks.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Monday afternoon was the first time that Will had been to Glee since he and Terri had gotten Wilde. The little family, while still making adjustments, were all getting along really well and Will was pleased at how close Terri and Wilde were getting.

While Wilde had told everyone Friday night that Terri was her second mommy, as of Friday night, Wilde had not addressed Terri as any form of mommy or Will as any form of daddy, but the night before she had, leading to tears on Terri's part and a dopey smile on Will's part after they had put Wilde to bed.

Then Wilde had woke up in the middle of the night crying. Terri had heard it before Will and had gotten out of bed sleepily. Will had felt her get out of bed but hadn't thought anything about until she hadn't come back thirty minutes later. He had gotten up and walked towards Wilde's room and stood in the doorway to see Terri rocking the little girl in a rocking chair they had placed in there for when they read to Wilde because she liked sitting in it as well.

"It is okay, Wilde. Sometimes accidents happen. Your Daddy and I will always be here to help you clean up and change your bed so you don't ever have to be sad or upset when you have an accident. Okay?"

Will could see the little girl nod in the dimly lit room. They had bought a nightlight for Wilde and placed it close to the rocking chair since it was the light socket closest to the door.

"You won't never be mad?" Wilde whimpered.

Terri held her close as they rocked and then gently took Wilde's thumb out of her mouth when it found its' way there.

"No, baby, I will never be mad. Neither will Daddy." Terri rubbed her back as she rocked back and forth.

"I love you, Mommy." Wilde whispered, and then snaked her hand up into Terri's hair and played with it while she was rocked gently to and fro.

"I love you, too, Wilde." Terri said as she kissed Wilde's forehead.

Will looked at the bed in Wilde's room. The sheet's had been pulled off, but new ones had not been put on. They had put a plastic sheet to protect the mattress, and Will went and got extra sheets out of the hall closet along with some Clorox wipes. He wiped the plastic down and started to make the bed.

"See, sweetie, Daddy isn't upset either. He is cleaning up the bed and making it with new sheets. Look, those sheets are green, your favorite color." Terri stood up from the rocking chair, Wilde on her hip with her head on Terri's shoulder and walked over to where Will had just finished making the bed.

Will wrapped his arms around the two. The two girls that were now his entire life.

"I love you, too, Daddy." Wilde said. Will kissed her head and then kissed his wife.

"I love you too, pumpkin."

Will was happy. They still had not decided what they were going to do with Wilde during the day since she didn't start kindergarten until the next year, but Terri had taken off this week to stay with her until they decided. Judy had offered to keep her during the days that Terri worked, and they were leaning towards that because they knew that Judy and Russ wanted to spend time with the little girl as well. They would continue to be Wilde's grandparents. Will and Terri had felt right at home at the Fabray's on Friday night, and they were excited about the editions to their new life that now involved Wilde.

But now, Will had to focus on Glee. They were getting a new student today, and he had heard that he sang better than most. They had sectionals in a couple of weeks, and he needed to start thinking about what they were going to do.

He watched as Rachel walked in and blushed. Rachel was not one to normally blush at anything. She was a spitfire until the end and often bashed heads with Will in the choir room, though Will never said anything to Shelby because he wouldn't have said anything to anyone else's parents. He was a softie at heart, and he hated to see the kids in trouble. He knew that he would probably have to talk to Rachel about being, more or less, part of her family now. Quinn, he didn't think, would have any issues with it, but Rachel was not like Quinn. She took things to heart more easily and often let her emotions get the best of her.

Will knew that Rachel had gotten in trouble at the Fabray's on Friday, though he didn't know the reason. He knew, though, that part of what was wrong with Rachel currently, was that she was embarrassed. The two of them would talk about it later though. He would make a point of it. He was already starting to feel more protective to the two girls in his Glee class because from now on he would have more dealings with them outside of school and they both had a close connection to him through his daughters, despite the fact that Beth would never be anything more than a niece to him. He was okay with that. He could see how happy Beth was and how much Shelby Corcoran loved her daughters.

Once everyone had arrived, Will clapped his hands and looked around the choir room. Everyone looked up at him, "Alright everyone, we have a new student! He doesn't officially start until tomorrow, but he wanted to come to Glee to meet everyone because he wants to join! Everyone, this is Jesse St. James!" Will said, excitedly. Jesse had asked if he could sing as he was coming in, because he knew that coming into an already formed Glee club usually meant that newcomers had to prove themselves.

"_Tell me you love me…Tell me you love me….Like I want you to.._."

Rachel looked up and into the eyes of Jesse St. James.

And knew, in that moment, that she had to have him.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby and Beth walked into the Lima Bean to grab a snack while they waited on Rachel to get out of Glee. At least once a week while they waited, the two of them would go in and get a latte for Shelby and a hot chocolate for Beth who would also get a cupcake. It was something only the two of them did once a week so that is was special for Beth. Beth would tell Shelby about her day and things that happened at school, and Beth looked forward to it every week.

Shelby was picking up her order when she bumped into someone and dropped Beth's hot chocolate.

"Shit." She hissed when she realized that she had dropped it all over the man she had just bumped into.

Shelby looked up at the man in front of her and had to swallow a couple of times before she could say anything. The man in front of her was…hot. He was muscular, with dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. He had a tattoo on his upper left arm that just barely peeked out from the sleeve of his tight shirt. His jeans did little to hide the imagination, and Shelby was awestruck.

"Hi, I am Shelby and I am so sorry." Shelby told him, reaching out her hand to shake it. He smiled at her.

"No worries. It isn't the first time I have had a drink fall on me. I'll survive." He said good naturedly.

With an accent. An Australian accent.

Shelby grabbed some paper towels and handed them to him.

"It is okay. My name is Logan by the way."

Shelby stood up, her eyes sparkling.

"Let me at least buy you another drink. I was not watching where I was going, so it was partly my fault. Or, you could give me your number and we could call it even…" came Logan's not to subtle hint.

In a split second decision, one that Shelby normally would not have made, Shelby said, "Sure." And grabbed a pen and napkin and wrote down her cell phone number.

From behind her, Beth came running up.

"Mommy, where is my chocolate and cupcake?" Beth asked, tugging on her shirt.

Logan looked on in amusement. He had noted that Shelby didn't have a wedding ring on, so he had figured that he was good to go.

"I have to get you another one, Beth. I dropped it on Logan. Beth, this is Logan, Logan, this is my youngest daughter Beth. My other daughter, Rachel, is at Glee practice. Beth and I have a mommy and me afternoon once a week while we wait on Rachel to get out of Glee." Shelby explained.

Beth stared at him.

Logan nodded.

"Okay, well, then, I had better let you ladies get to your alone time. Shelby, I will be in touch." Logan said, smiling, and then walking towards the door.

Shelby was brought back to reality when she heard an insistent "Mommy". Shelby smiled when she looked down at Beth's pouty face.

"Come on, Sweet Pea. Let's get you another hot chocolate."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

When Glee ended, Rachel had wanted to talk to the new guy, but she didn't get a chance when Mr. Shue called her over to the side. She looked at him nervously and played with the ends of her hair.

Will realized that she was nervous and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Rach, I know that things in our lives are now…intertwined, but I really hope that you will become more comfortable with both me and Terri."

Rachel looked up at Will and smiled tentatively.

"It isn't that, Mr. Shue. I mean, I like you guys just fine. It is just going to all be different now. And, I mean, I know that it probably is not a surprise to you, but I tend to find myself in…situations that sometimes lead to trouble quite often…I was embarrassed and afraid…"

Will knew exactly what she was afraid of.

"Rach, I wasn't going to say anything, but I know that you got into trouble at the Fabray's on Friday night. And I know that that is a lot about what you are afraid and embarrassed about. There is no need for you to be either. I would never hold that over your head, and there is no need to be embarrassed because you are a teenager and sometimes you are going to get into trouble, and sometimes I am going to be around to hear about it now that we are, for all intents and purposes, family. But know, Rachel, that I would never hold that over your head, okay?"

Rachel could tell that he meant every word of it and threw her arms around his waist.

"Thank you, Mr. Shue!"

Will laughed.

"Okay, go on. I will see you tomorrow."

Rachel smiled and ran out of the room and then out of the building. She had something to tell her mother.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Not long after they left the Lima Bean, Shelby and Beth were waiting on Rachel in the parking lot when the fourteen year old ran out of the school and towards the car with a huge smile on her face and jumped into the car, slamming the door shut behind her. She turned to look at Shelby excitedly.

"What has you in such a good mood, Rach?" Shelby asked, amused.

"I met a man today, Mom!" Rachel said.

Shelby's eyes shot to her eyebrows.

What the hell?

A _man_?

Shelby somehow knew that she was probably not prepared for this story.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews! So, what did you guys think? Anyone have any ideas about what is going to happen? Let me know:)**

**Also, sorry this chapter is not quite as long as normal...I needed this chapter to end here:)**


	20. Getting to Know You

**Chapter Twenty: Getting to Know You**

Shelby stared at her daughter for several moments after Rachel was in the car. She didn't know what to say in that moment. A _man_? What in the world was her daughter even talking about? Rachel was fourteen! A _man_?

"Where is Quinn?" She finally asked, but then she saw the girl walking out of the building.

"Never mind, there she is. How exactly old is this 'man' you met today?" Shelby asked tentatively. Rachel looked at her funny.

"Mom, he is fifteen. He just turned fifteen. He joined Glee today, and his name is Jesse. Isn't that a nice name, Mom?" Rachel said, staring into space adoringly.

Shelby didn't have time to say anything because Quinn opened the door and slammed it shut. Why couldn't these kids shut the car doors like normal human beings? Oh, Shelby thought, because once they hit thirteen, they ceased being normal human beings. Hopefully once they reached a certain age, they would be able to become normal again. Shelby shook her head.

"Sister met a man today, Quinnie. So did Mommy."

Rachel's eyes widened, not because Beth had said that to Quinn, but because of the little addition to Beth's story. Shelby's eyes widened because she couldn't believe Beth had caught on enough at the Lima Bean to even say that, though she should have because Beth was picking up everything these days, and Quinn just laughed.

"I know Sister met a 'man' if that is what you call a scrawny boy who can sing quite well despite his arrogance."

Rachel turned around and glared at Quinn, "He was not scrawny! And how do you even know that is who I was talking about!"

"Of course he isn't scrawny to you! Everyone is taller than you are. Besides, after you heard him sing, you couldn't keep your eyes off of him. And then when he heard you sing, he couldn't keep his eyes off of you. So, yea, I knew that was who you were talking about."

"Shut up, Quinn!"

"Hey!" Shelby said, smacking the top of Rachel's leg lightly to get her attention as the little Diva's temper started to get the best of her and Shelby did not want to have to deal with that on the way home. Rachel finally looked up at her mother though.

"Do not tell people to shut up." Shelby said, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, Quinn needs to stop talking then. I wanted to tell you about Jesse. And I didn't stare at him the whole time!" Rachel whined. Shelby grimaced. She really disliked it when her children were whiny almost as much as when they were having tantrums.

"You did stare at him the whole time. Kurt noticed it too!" Quinn spouted off. Rachel turned around and stared at Quinn.

"Whatever."

"He asked me for your number." Quinn said slyly.

This perked up Rachel immediately and her eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Yep. And I gave it to him."

Rachel smiled.

"Well, that is all right then."

In the driver's seat, Shelby rolled her eyes. Her kids were going to be the death of her.

"Okay, everyone, seatbelts on. Let's head to the house." She said, turning the car on and, after she was positive that everyone was buckled up, she headed towards home.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

By Wednesday that week, the Corcoran's plus Quinn were in an easy routine of home, Cheerio practice for Quinn in the mornings, school, glee, and then home for the night. The girls were all getting along well, which Shelby was thankful for, and nothing out of the ordinary had happened except she had heard nearly nothing else from Rachel except about Jesse St. James, who was also in Shelby's last period English class with Rachel. She was thinking about separating the two because they passed notes back and forth in class, and were very close to getting a detention for doing so, which in the end would lead to Rachel getting into trouble at home because it was a general rule in the house if the kids got in trouble at school they were also in trouble at home, something she did not want to deal with. She had told them as much that afternoon and was going to give them one more chance.

The two also talked on the phone quite often since Rachel was still without texting, and would be until the new year, something that Shelby refused to budge on despite Rachel's incessant whining that it would really be better for Shelby if she could text. She whined about it until Shelby reminded her that the reason she was without texting was because of a little text that had been deemed the 'epic f you text' by the Rachel and Quinn. Shelby had had to create a new phone rule though: Rachel could only talk on the phone for one hour total a night. That was even a bit long in Shelby's opinion, but the talks between the two were getting longer and longer and she had to do something about. Shelby was glad that Rachel had found another friend, but she was not dumb enough to think that the two of them weren't trying to figure out how they could be more than friends without Shelby finding out. She was thinking about allowing Rachel to invite the boy over so that she could get to know him a little more outside of school.

Shelby herself had been talking each day for a short time with Logan right after she put all the girls to bed. The two had a lot in common as far as likes and dislikes go and he had asked her out on a date, but she had told him that she needed to wait until she could find a babysitter for the kids because her oldest wasn't currently allowed to stay home by herself after the flour/powder incident. Logan had laughed for several minutes after Shelby had shared the incident with him. He told her that he couldn't wait to meet Rachel, as she sounded like a firecracker to him.

That night, as she was cooking supper, Shelby was picking up the girls' bags, which they had left on the kitchen table after school despite being told repeatedly to pick them up and take them to their rooms, and a note fell out of Quinn's unzipped bag. She picked the note up and read over it when she noticed that it was on McKinley High stationary and a date marked for the previous Wednesday, a week before; the letterhead was the type that all of the teachers used to send notes home to parents. It was from one of Shelby's colleague's who taught Algebra to the ninth graders and other math classes to the other grades, Lizbeth French, and apparently Quinn had failed to turn in several assignments and the note needed to be signed at home.

Shelby walked over to the bottom of the stairs and yelled up them, "Quinn, would you please come downstairs?" She waited several moments before she heard a "Yea" come from Quinn, and then went back into the kitchen to check on supper while she waited since she definitely needed to find out why Quinn was missing the assignments and get her to work on them for the next day. She heard Quinn come down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Sit at the table please." Shelby said, tapping her spoon that she had been stirring the soup she was making with, and then turned to face Quinn so that she could see her reaction to the note that was sitting in front of her.

Quinn paled when she saw the note on the table and remained standing. She had hid that note since the previous Thursday and she had been positive that she would be able to get all the work finished soon without her parents finding out and then possibly talk Mrs. French out of needing that note signed. Of course Aunt Shel would find the stupid note! She probably went through her bag because she had heard Mrs. French talking about it in the teachers' lounge or something. The very thought angered Quinn.

She quickly turned to Shelby with an angry glare.

"You went through my bag?" Quinn hissed.

"Excuse me, young lady?" Shelby said, shocked that Quinn would even have the nerve to get an attitude with her right now.

"You went through my bag! That note was in my bag!" Quinn yelled at Shelby.

"So I am right in assuming that you were not going to give me that note since you didn't give it to your mother or father?" Shelby asked her, her hands now on her hips.

"Obviously." Quinn told her, her glare hardening.

"If I were you, young lady, I would cut the attitude. You are in enough trouble." Shelby told her, though, Shelby thought to herself, she wouldn't have been in any trouble had she simply watched her attitude.

"Why am I in trouble? You are the one who decided to go through my bag and invade my privacy."

"Stop right there, Lucy Quinn! Even if I had gone through your bag, which I most certainly did not, it would not give you the right to yell at me!" Shelby told the girl in front of her.

"So what!" Quinn said, when she couldn't decide exactly what to say, but also didn't want to bow out of the fight so quickly, even if it was her Aunt Shel in front of her and even if she was slightly afraid of the woman when she was mad at her.

"You are pushing it, young lady."

Quinn narrowed her eyes, grabbed the note off the table, walked over to Shelby and tore the note in two and then fours and threw it at Shelby.

"Consider it pushed." Quinn hissed. She turned to walk away, but only made it two steps before she was jerked back and pushed gently against and then bent over the counter, her backside facing out.

She felt a sudden sting, followed by two more and hissed. What the hell! That was most definitely _not _Aunt Shel's hand! In fact, it reminded Quinn of a paddling she had once gotten at school for punching a boy in the sixth grade. Her mom had told the school to paddle her instead of sending her home for a suspension because playing at home all day was not Judy's idea of a punishment. Quinn had gotten three paddles then too.

Quinn arched her head back as best she could and looked at the now infuriated woman welding a wide, wooden spoon that she must have grabbed out of the spoon jar beside the stove when Quinn's back was turned.

"You, little girl, are grounded until your parents get back. I am appalled at your behavior. You could have easily just told me about that note and we would have talked about it and I would have helped you with your missing homework. You might have been grounded from your phone and television until it was all complete and turned in. However, you changed all of that when you decided that you were too big for your britches. Now you will have to deal without your phone and without any television until Judy and Russ come back. Do you understand me?" Shelby lectured.

Quinn sniffed and nodded. She really wanted to rub her behind of its subtle sting that was really more like an itch, but she wasn't sure if that was such a good idea yet.

"I am going to need a verbal answer, Quinn." Shelby said gently.

"Yes ma'am." Quinn said quietly. She hadn't quite lost all of her fire, but she did know better than to push it too much. That spoon had stung, and she didn't want any more smacks with it.

"Okay, I want you to sit at the table and work on all of the math that you are missing. If you need help, ask. I will assist you. Once we are finished with supper, you will work on it for another hour and then you will get ready for bed at nine. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Quinn said, nodding at the same time.

"Okay, go on then."

This time, Quinn did as she was told. She wasn't stupid. She knew that she had lost that battle with no hope of regaining any type of control. Defeated, she went towards the kitchen table and sat down gingerly.

Quinn looked at the table as she pulled her algebra homework out of her bag. She sat there and stared at it.

"I don't get it." Quinn whispered. Shelby walked over to the girl and sat beside her.

"You don't get the work?" Shelby asked her, running her hand over Quinn's arm.

"No. And, I didn't want mom or dad to know. Because both of them are really good at math. Frannie was really good at math, too." Quinn sniffed.

Shelby inwardly sighed.

"Quinnie, you can't be good at everything. Sometimes you have to ask for help. I can help you, your mom and dad can help you. Just don't ask Rach, bless her heart she can do it, but asking her to explain it is like asking her why she loves Barbra. She never really gets to the point."

Quinn smiled.

"So you will help me?" Quinn asked as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Most definitely. We can work on your math now, and talk about your attitude later." Shelby told her, making sure the girl knew that her attitude was still not appropriate, no matter what the situation.

Quinn sighed.

"Okay."

While Shelby cooked supper, the two of them worked on Quinn's homework. The air was still slightly tense, but definitely better than it had been a few moments previous.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

By the time that the weekend rolled around, Shelby was positive that she had heard more about Jesse St. James than she had heard about anyone else, ever. His hair was gorgeous. His smile fit his face perfectly. His eyes sparkled when he sang. On and on it went. Shelby knew that soon, she was going to have to let Rachel invite the boy over, but before then she wanted to sit down and come up with a few rules concerning the relationship between the two. They were still so young, and it was hard for Shelby to accept that her daughter was so infatuated with Jesse St. James at the age of fourteen. It was hard to accept that her daughter could be so infatuated with anyone at her age.

Shelby was still holding firm about Rachel not dating until she was sixteen, but she didn't know how much longer she would be able to hold true to that in all regards. She knew that she wouldn't allow Rachel to go out at night with him, or anywhere by themselves, but if they wanted to hang out while supervised, Shelby was okay with that, mainly because she didn't want Rachel trying to sneak out of the house or seeing him behind her back without her permission like she had obviously done with Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman.

Shelby was thankful that Quinn had been her normal self the rest of the week despite being grounded for her little temper tantrum, and had finished her Algebra homework without anymore prompting from Shelby. They had talked later that night and Quinn had apologized, telling Shelby that she was really missing her mom and dad because by that time they had been gone for several days. She had told Shelby that she thought some of it was because she and her mom had been talking about a lot of things lately and now that her mom was literally out of town and not right down the road, she just missed them in general. Quinn told Shelby that she had lashed out at the first person to tick her off which had been Shelby, but she had apologized, so now all was forgotten. Shelby knew that, as much as Quinn didn't like to admit it, she and Rachel were much alike in that regard. Both girls, whether they were sick, in trouble, having a bad day, or happy as could be, wanted their mothers close to them. Shelby often wondered if Rachel would grow out of it by the time she went to New York, or if it was an adjustment that she would be unable to make. Shelby knew that she would do everything in her power, though, to make sure that her daughter adjusted to life in New York when the time came.

Judy and Russ had gotten back late Friday night from the business trip that they had gone on, but Quinn had stayed with the Corcoran's until Saturday because Saturday all of the girls, Quinn, Rachel, Beth, and even Wilde, were going to stay at the Fabray's for a sleepover. Judy and Russ had both called Shelby and told her that they had missed all the girls and really wanted to keep them overnight on Saturday. Shelby knew that Judy had ulterior motives since she knew about Logan, but Shelby quickly agreed. She had texted Logan after getting off the phone and told him that they could definitely go out Saturday night. So far, Shelby had only told Leah and Judy about the man. She didn't want to tell Rachel and Beth about him because she wasn't sure whether it would go anywhere after the first date, and it was not fair to her girls to introduce them to someone who could be out of their life as quick as he came in.

Now her kids were packed and heading out to Judy's car. Will and Terri were going to drop by and eat supper with the Fabray's and then leave Wilde, though when Shelby had talked to Will on Friday at school, she could tell that he was nervous.

It was understandable though. Wilde had not been with them long, and they were still becoming a family. Shelby also knew that he already had half a dozen pictures of his daughter in his office, along with one of him and Beth that Shelby had taken at the Fabray's dinner the week before and sent to him. He knew that he would never be a father to Beth, but Shelby could see it in his eyes. He would do anything for her just as he would for Wilde. Shelby was pretty sure that Terri would as well. The little family that they had formed was bonding quickly, and for that, Shelby was glad.

Shelby kissed her daughters and Quinn good bye and waved from the porch.

She then went back into the house, locked the door behind her, and sighed. This was the quietest her house had been in ages, and she was going to bask in the few childfree hours that she had, first with a hot bath and glass of wine, and then she was going to slowly get ready for her date with Logan who would be picking her up at seven.

It was the first date Shelby had been on since Beth had been around two. And she would be lying if she said that she wasn't excited about it.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel and Quinn were huddled in Quinn's room on the bed talking. Rachel had questions, and she knew that Quinn would be able to answer them, but she hadn't wanted to talk to Quinn about it at her own house since her mom had an eerie way of popping up when she was least needed. Quinn, who knew Rachel quite well, had known that the other girl had wanted to talk about something, so she just kept quiet while the Rachel got her thoughts together.

"I want to talk to you about Puck." Rachel said, blushing. Quinn looked at her confused. She thought that all of this was behind them.

"Rach, I thought you weren't mad anymore…" Quinn said.

Rachel looked at her, confused.

"I'm not mad at you anymore. I just want to know what all you did with Puck. Finn and I only kissed some, and then when I did the whole Puck thing, he touched my chest and my butt, but that is all."

Quinn swallowed. She definitely had done more than that with Puck.

"We did…a bit more than that, Rach." Quinn looked out the window of her room. The trees were falling off of a tree that was about ten feet away from her window. She often wished that tree was closer because it would have made sneaking out of her room so easy. But, obviously the people who had planted the tree knew better than to put a tree that close to the house.

They had probably had kids.

"Like what? Please tell me, Quinnie?" Rachel begged.

"Why, Rach? I mean, it wasn't that big a deal." Now it was Quinn's turn to blush.

"But it was, and how am I going to know what to do before I am ready to have sex if we don't talk about it? You've done more than I have." Rachel said looking down at the blanket she was fumbling with. In many ways, Rachel looked up to Quinn. There wasn't that big of an age difference between them, but there were times when Rachel just knew that Quinn was ahead of her. Dealing with the opposite sex was one of those things.

Quinn could almost see Rachel's brain working in front of her and she knew that there was pretty much no way out of this. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell Rachel, it was just that some of it sounded embarrassing when she said it out loud.

Quinn swallowed.

"Well, Puck likes to touch. I let him see me naked the last time that we were together…"

"Where did he touch you? I mean, he touched my chest and butt, but that was when Aunt Judy jerked us apart." Rachel said, ignoring the fact that Quinn had let him see her naked for the moment.

"No. He likes to be a bit more hands on than that. I touched him first, for a while, until he..um…got off, and then he laid me down and started making out with me. Then he moved his hands down and…ya know…"

Rachel looked at Quinn for a few seconds.

"So, did you like it?"

"Yes. At first I was nervous because we both took our clothes off. Puck is really a boob guy…he likes touching them. He touched me some downstairs too, but then I told him that I wasn't ready for any type of sex. I touched him too, but that was as much as either of us did."

Rachel nodded, "Okay."

Quinn could tell that Rachel was thinking hard.

"So it didn't bother you, letting him see you naked?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders.

"At first it was weird because, I mean, no one ever really sees me without my clothes on except for like my mom sometimes which is totally different, but then we were making out, so I guess I didn't even think about it. Rach, why are you so interested about all of this?"

"I am just curious. I mean you have had more experience than I have, so I just figured that I would ask you. I mean, I don't want to have sex or anything, but I am still really curious." Rachel told her.

"Okay. Not that it matters now. Since Daddy and Aunt Shel got a hold of Puck, he won't come within ten feet of me. Not that I would want to go out with him now anyways. Mom pretty much threatened me within an inch of my life concerning him. Just don't rush into anything if you are thinking about doing anything with Jesse, Rach. Talk to Aunt Shel about it first. When I talked to Mom, she wasn't mad at all, and I don't think Aunt Shel would be mad either." Quinn said, exaggerating the part about Judy threatening her life just a tiny bit.

"Yea. Kurt said he still thinks that Mom is a witch or something. He isn't exactly the smartest guy around if he can't put the fact that I was sick and we made out together…I mean, we were both sick on Monday and I had been sick the whole week before…and don't worry. I will talk to Mom. I mean, I think she would rather talk to me before hand anyways. But I definitely won't mention Puck…since Mom is a witch and all…." Rachel trailed off with a sly grin.

Both girls started laughing then because they knew that Puck was definitely not the smartest kid in school. Their talk about sex forgotten, the two began talking more gossip and less guys. Judy and Russ could hear them laughing downstairs while they talked to Terri and Will while the four watched Beth and Wilde play in the corner.

They all smiled as they listened to two little girls laugh and listened to the other two little girls chatter. It was a good night.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby was having a really good time. Logan had come and picked her up and had then taken her to eat at a high end restaurant on the better part of Lima called _Caprice_. They had talked for over two hours about each other, their likes, there interests, practically anything they could think to share with one another.

After dinner, Logan asked Shelby if she would like to go to a nearby park where a Fall festival was going on. Shelby agreed, and the two walked casually from booth to booth.

"So, I think the only thing that we haven't discussed tonight is work and kids. I know that you like blueberry pancakes and you only eat chocolate when you are stressed or upset. So what do you do all day?" Logan asked, sneaking his arm around Shelby's waist when he noticed her shiver despite her coat.

"I work with children all day. I teach English at McKinley. I used to coach Show Choir, but once I adopted my daughter Beth, it was harder to split my time with that and my kids. Beth and Rachel are my everything, and I was always having to depend on others to watch them while I was coaching. My sister and my friend Judy seemed to have my girls more than I did. So I quit. I know that Rachel wishes that I would co-coach, but I am not sure that I am up to it. It takes a lot out of a person, and I spend most of my time chasing after Beth and Rachel."

"So you like to sing. Interesting. I would love to hear you sing sometime." Logan told her. Shelby smiled.

"I enjoy singing, but that is something from my past. I still sing to the girls though. Maybe I will sing to you one day."

"I would like that." Logan said, leaning closer to her.

"Rachel sings like an angel. She definitely inherited that ability. Maybe she will sing for you one day. So, what do you do?"

"I work at an art museum during the day, and have a part time job three times a week. I love art, and it was one of the reasons that I came to America when I was twenty-three. Now thirteen years later, I wouldn't change anything."

"Your family?" Shelby asked, giving in a little and leaning into Logan. It was cold, after all.

"I have a father, mother, and two brothers. They all still live in Australia. I go and visit them once a year at Christmas. They were not supportive of my decision to move so far away at first, but once they realized just how happy I was, the idea grew on them. It helps that I go and see them, too, since they thought I never would. My Mum was positive that she would never see me again until I actually came back that first Christmas."

"And to think, I worry about when my baby goes to New York after high school." Shelby said with a laugh.

They walked around the carnival for a bit longer and then finally decided to head home. Once Logan got to Shelby's house, Logan walked her up to the porch and then stopped, unsure of what to do.

"I had a really nice time tonight, Logan, but I feel like we should end our nice night here." Shelby said, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

"It would be my pleasure to end the night here, Shelby. I had an excellent time. I hope that we can do this again." Logan told her.

"I think we can." She said as a smile graced her lips.

Logan bent down and tentatively kissed Shelby's lips and gave her a whispered, "Good bye."

He turned and headed off the porch and towards his car.

"Logan?" Shelby called.

He turned around and looked at her.

"Would you like to come and meet Rachel and Beth tomorrow night?"

Logan smiled.

"I would love too."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel sat in the kitchen at the bar while her mom answered the door. Her Mom's knew 'friend' was coming to meet her and Beth, and neither of the girls was very excited about it. Their mom was excited though, so they were trying to act excited as well. Apparently Shelby had already been on one date with him the night before, and now he was coming here.

Rachel could hear her mom and her 'friend' coming down the hallway, and then into the kitchen. Rachel stood up and walked towards them, and then looked up.

Her eyes met Logan's at the same time.

Recognition registered in both of their eyes. Rachel knew this man. She had met him several weeks before. Rachel smiled.

"Baby, this is Logan; Logan, this is Rachel. Rachel could you fix Logan something to drink while I go get Beth?" Shelby asked with a smile on her face.

Rachel smiled sweetly and nodded, when Shelby turned and headed to the stairs to go up and retrieve Beth.

Rachel poured Logan a glass of water from the fridge and then thrust it into his hand. He was still speechless. This could not be Shelby's fourteen year old daughter. This could not be the woman that came into the tattoo shop he worked in three days a week and dropped her pants for a tattoo on her hip and side.

Holy shit, he had seen a fourteen year old kid's ass. What the hell.

Rachel leaned close to him and then looked up at him and whispered, "You fuck with my mom and I'll tell her what you did."

Rachel smirked at Logan who was still speechless.

Rachel grabbed her phone off the table and headed out to the porch to call Quinn.

Rachel listened to the phone until Quinn picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Quinnie, I know how we can get you that tattoo." Rachel said, smirking mischievously as she told Quinn her plan.

* * *

**AN: First of all, something I should have done many chapters ago, special thanks to Gleeks09 who lets me throw idea after idea off of her and then some...otherwise you guys would NOT get these chapters so fast. **

**Thanks for all the reviews and PMs and such. As always, if you have questions, comments, or suggestions, let me know:) I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter:)**


	21. Sectionals

**Chapter Twenty-One: Sectionals**

Rachel woke up the morning of Sectionals with Beth sitting on top of her, her hands on her hips staring down at her big sister.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rachel mumbled, looking up at her sister.

"Best not let Mommy hear you say that word." Beth said.

"What do you want, Bethie?" Rachel asked groggily as she tried to move around but really couldn't because her little sister was not getting off of her.

"Mommy is talking to Logan on the phone again. We have got to do something about this, Rachie." Beth told her seriously.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't be dumb, Rachie. Mommy has been talking to him all week. He ate supper here two days this week! And Mommy get all….laugh-y when he is around! It's weird." Beth said, throwing her hands up in the air, exasperated by her older sister. Was Rachel not paying attention to what was going on in their lives?

"Beth, you're five. What do you know about Mom and her new boy-toy?" Rachel asked, shoving Beth back a little so that the little girl was on her lap, making it easier for her to sit up and lean against the headboard of her bed.

Beth crossed her arms and smirked at Rachel.

"I know that Mommy invited him to Sectionals. And that he is coming." Beth said.

Rachel's eyes grew wide and she looked at Beth.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yep," Beth said, popping her 'p'.

"Shit." Rachel muttered. Beth raised one of her eyebrows, her arms still crossed. It was eerily like their mother. Creepy.

"You really better not Mommy hear you say those words." Beth warned again, shaking her head. Didn't Rachel know that Mommy still had two bars of soap under the right sink in her bathroom, one with Rachel's name on it and the other with Beth's in zippy bags…Beth had seen them not long ago when she had been looking to see where Mommy had hid her princess Band-Aids…sometimes you needed a Band-Aid for no reason, but Mommy didn't seem to understand that and had hid them when Beth had put on four different ones for no reason. Beth had gotten the soap in her mouth for almost an entire minute a couple weeks previous because she had said 'damn' at school and had gotten a note sent home. Beth was thinking about hiding the bars, but she was almost positive that Mommy would buy more.

"I won't. So…what else do you know about Logan?" Rachel asked, staring at her little sister, all the while her mind was rolling. Her Mom hadn't even asked her if she minded him being there! She didn't want him at Sectionals! She barely even knew him, despite the fact that she had dropped her pants and underwear and let him give her a tattoo…something he had definitely not told her Mom about.

"I know that he and Mommy talk every night on the phone when Mommy thinks we are asleep, and that they have a date next Saturday when I am going to be at Amelia's and you are going to spend the night at Kurt's since Finn won't be there because he will be at his grandparents."

Rachel looked at Beth, shocked.

"Just how much _do_ you know, Sis?"

Beth smirked again.

"I know lots of things. You just never ask." Beth said, climbing off of Rachel and walking out the doorway.

She turned around and stared at Rachel, "You do know that you have Sectionals today, right? And when Mommy got that call from Logan, it was nine…"

Rachel's eyes grew wide and she jumped out of bed to start getting ready. She only had a few hours before they had to leave for school to meet the bus!

Beth laughed as she went downstairs, shaking her head the entire way. Her big sister was so funny sometimes.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Since Shelby worked at the school and her child was in the Glee club, she was chosen as the female chaperone to ride on the bus with Will. Terri, Judy, Russ, Leah, Beth, and Wilde were all riding together in Terri's SUV. Leah's husband, James, and their son Elijah had tickets to a football game, so were going to miss Sectionals in order to attend that. Logan was following them in his vehicle, though Rachel had purposely ignored that fact when her mother told her, stating that she already knew.

Shelby wasn't quite sure how Rachel knew that Logan was coming to see the performance, but she hadn't had time to question her about it because she had had to start helping Will get the kids on the bus so that they could leave.

She had not expected to get on the bus and see Rachel sitting in Jesse's lap, giggling about something he had said, the two of them so close that water would not have made it through the line between their bodies.

Shelby clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone, take a seat," she looked at Rachel and Jesse, "your own seat, not on top of anyone else. The bus cannot take off until you all have your own seats." She was insistent, and everyone knew why. She could tell by the not so subtle smirks some of the kids, namely Santana, Mercedes, Quinn, and Kurt, were passing Rachel and Jesse.

Shelby watched Rachel roll her eyes and scoot off Jesse to sit by the window. Shelby had a feeling that their hands were still clutched together, but without going back there and embarrassing her child to death, there was nothing that she could do about that. Shelby made a point not to embarrasses Rachel when she was there as a teacher, and, ultimately, she was on this bus as a teacher. She would be Rachel's mother when Rachel sang her solo, and then for the rest of the performance, but when it came time to get the kids ready to go, if their parents weren't taking them, she would be a teacher again. This was an old school and song for Shelby, which was another reason that she felt the school board had asked her to assist Will who tended to be mild mannered compared to her.

Shelby was not one to wait why things got done, but instead was the one making sure they were done to her satisfaction. Bless Will's heart, but he would let the students, especially one Miss Rachel, run things if someone else wasn't near.

After everyone was sitting down and ready to go, Rachel glared at her mother as she scooted closer to Jesse again. Shelby raised her eyebrow in a "do you really want to go there right at this moment" fashion, which made Rachel sink down in the seat beside Jesse. Sometimes Shelby could not simply turn off mother-mode.

"You know, your mom can be super scary when she arches her eyebrow up like that." Jesse whispered after he sunk down in their seat beside her.

"Yea, I know. I have lived with her my whole life and it has always scared me. Just don't let her know that. I mean, when her eyebrow goes up like that, she is deadly serious. I get grounded more when that eyebrow is cocked up and I ignore it than any other time." Rachel whispered.

Jesse laughed.

"Did you ask her if she was going to let us go out?" He asked, running his fingers over her hand.

"We haven't really talked about it. She said that she would think about it, and on like Wednesday I mentioned it again, but she said that she had to think about it a bit more. I asked her last night and she told me that if I kept asking she was going to tell me no because it wasn't a simple decision for her, that she has to think really hard about it first. Both nights her new 'toy' just happened to be around. He hasn't even been in her life for two weeks and he is already messing up our lives." Rachel ranted quietly.

It wasn't actually true. Yes, he had been over, but her mom had paid just as much attention to her and Beth as she normally did, but it was the fact of the matter.

He was a man and he was competing with Rachel and Beth for _their_ mom's attention. They didn't like that one bit.

"What is he like?" Jesse asked Rachel.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Rachel said with a glimmer in her eye. Jesse looked at her and smiled while he nodded his head.

"I have a tattoo on my hip. Kurt and I went to get it the day Quinn and I were mad at one another. I had a fake id that I had gotten from Puck and Kurt did my makeup and stuff. Then we went and I got the tattoo. It is pretty big. Well, the guy who did it, it was Logan. My mom's new boyfriend. I can guarantee he hasn't and won't tell mom that."

"Maybe you will have to show me that tattoo sometime." Jesse said with a sly grin.

"Sure. But obviously not today." Rachel smiled, peeping over the top of her seat to see where her mother was. She was at the front, talking to Will.

Jesse thought she was joking. Rachel wasn't though. She would show him the tattoo eventually.

"Does your sister like him?" Jesse asked her.

"Ha! I think she dislikes him being around more than I do! I don't know how that is possible. I mean Beth likes everyone. I think she is going to really like you, but she woke me up this morning and was fussing because Mom was talking to him on the phone. My little sister knows more about what is going on than I do. She was the one who told me that Mom invited him today. That pisses me off. She had no right to invite him to our competition."

"Maybe you should talk to her about it." Jesse said. He really couldn't pretend to understand Rachel's position. Both of his parents were married to one another and he had never had to deal with them dating someone else. He knew that Rachel had never had a father, and he felt that if he was in that position he would probably feel the same way.

"Yea, maybe. Beth will probably beat me to her. I have never seen my sister like she was this morning."

"Yea. So, maybe I should ask your mom about us hanging out…" Jesse said smiling.

Rachel smiled and leaned against him, clutching his hand in hers.

In front of them, Quinn smiled. She wasn't sure if she liked Jesse just yet, but she was glad that her friend had someone to talk to that wasn't with her all the time, that didn't know Aunt Shelby the way that Quinn and Kurt did. Rachel needed someone that could be there just for Rachel without thinking about anyone or anything else in a large extended family. Quinn and Kurt were, but it was still different.

She looked over at Santana who was sharing a seat with her and gave the girl a knowing look. They had both heard the entire conversation that had taken place behind them, but knew that no one else had been paying attention.

Santana leaned over to Quinn and whispered, "Diva has a tattoo and I am just now hearing about this?" Santana asked, very curious. She had been wanting a tattoo for ages but even she hadn't had the guts to try and use the fake id she had to get it. But if Kurt could make Rachel look older, than she knew that he could definitely make her look older…because she already looked older than Rachel, so it probably wouldn't be all that hard.

"Yea. She has one. Don't tell Aunt Shel about it, Santana…that is how I am going to get my tattoo…Rachel is going to tell him that if he doesn't give me one that she is going to tell her mom everything…" Quinn said.

Santana looked surprised.

"You think she'd throw me in there too? Two for one? I didn't know the little Diva had it in her." Santana smiled. She wouldn't tell anyone. She knew how to keep her mouth shut. But she also wanted that tattoo.

"I'll talk to Rach. But you have to keep your mouth shut."

"I can do that." Santana said with a smile.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Alright, guys, this is it. Win this and we will be on our way to Regionals. You have got this in the bag!" Will said as he stared at the kids in front of him. The guys were dressed in black pants and white button up shirts, and the girls all wore bright red, satin dresses. The girls' hair all matched, thanks to Shelby, who had helped them all style their hair when they were getting ready, and they were all set.

Within seconds, the announcer was announcing New Directions, and they were on.

From the crowd, Rachel's family was enthralled as she sang like an angel. Beside Shelby, Logan sat and leaned over.

"You are right, she does sing like an angel."

Shelby nodded as she smiled on and watched her daughter. She loved hearing her baby sing.

To Shelby's other side, Leah sat with Beth in her lap. Terri was beside her with Wilde in her lap, and then Judy and Russell. Behind Shelby sat Burt and Carole. Both little girls where captivated with Rachel's voice and their eyes stayed focused only on her.

"Aunt Leah, isn't Rachel singing pretty?" Beth whispered as her sister finished singing and a duet sung by Tina and Artie started.

"Yes, she sang beautifully, Sweet Pea." Beth sat back and laid her head back on Leah's shoulder.

During the group number, everything went splendidly, and when the singing was finished, just as the last note rang throughout the auditorium, people began applauding. They were the last group up, and now all they had to do was wait for the results.

While everyone waited for the results, the kids went off the stage and into the audience to talk to family and friends. Rachel, Jesse, Quinn, Santana, and Brittney were standing off to the side talking and laughing when a voice came from behind Rachel.

"I knew you would be able to sing like an angel."

The voice was raspy and Rachel had only heard it once, but she knew who it belong too. She could also tell by the look on Quinn's face. Santana looked confused, and even Brittney, who normally always held a smile, was frowning when she noticed the look on Rachel's face. Jesse was beside Rachel, so she couldn't see his face.

Rachel turned around.

Leroy Berry stood there, if possible more disheveled than the last time. His eyes were blood shot and his hair was longer and knotted.

"It's been almost fifteen years, Rachel. Don't you ever wonder what you missed, pretty girl? You look like Shelby Corcoran's twin. You look just like her. But you are shorter…and you have Hiram's eyes… caramel eyes. Just like Hiram's. I always loved his eyes." Leroy reached towards Rachel and ran his fingers through her hair and then ran his hand down her face and neck and shoulder.

"Quinnie…Mom…" Rachel whimpered. She was frozen. She needed her mom. She felt Jesse reach for her and wrap his arms around her waist and pulling her backwards against him. She felt more than saw Santana push Brittney behind her and then step a bit in front of Rachel and Jesse. Santana didn't know who this man was, but she wasn't shitting around. It was obvious that Rachel was afraid.

"I don't know who you are, sir, but you need to leave us alone." Jesse said, trying to move Rachel around so that he could stand beside Santana. He finally wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and he felt her head rest on his back.

"And who the hell are you? Rachel, dear, aren't you too young for a boy to be holding you so closely? Wouldn't you rather be held by the man who was supposed to be your daddy all those years ago?"

Rachel let out a sob, Brittney looked over and noticed that her eyes were those of a deer caught in the headlights.

Across the auditorium, Leah looked up trying to see Rachel from where she was standing with Judy, Russ, Terri, Beth, and Wilde. Shelby had gone to check on the kids as they made their way to the floor. She caught sight of Rachel hidden behind Jesse and Santana, two kids she had only recently met, and her heart stopped.

"Judy, take Beth." Leah said, pushing Beth gently over to Judy. Leah was walking quickly, but then she heard Rachel cry out and she started to walk faster. Why had she been so far away?

Russ followed Leah's line of sight until he saw what Leah had seen. Leroy Berry. He had never seen the man, but somehow he knew that was who the man so close to his Rachel was. Russ took off towards the man, his strides longer than Leah's, so he caught up with her easily.

Shelby heard the cry over the noise of the audience. She knew her daughter's cry anywhere. It was Rachel's. Why would she be crying? They were a shoe in for winning Sectionals. They had been brilliant. Rachel had been brilliant. They had all sang beautifully.

And then she looked up. Jesse was holding Rachel's entire body behind him. Santana was close to Jesse, with Brittney a little ways behind her, trying to lay a comforting hand on Rachel.

Then Shelby saw Quinn, looking frantically around when the girl finally spotted Shelby.

"Aunt Shel! He is here!" the girl yelled, turning and pointing to the one thing that Shelby had missed. Leroy Berry. How the hell had she missed him? He was only feet away from her daughter!

Shelby, unlike Russ and Leah, took off into a run, telling Quinn to go back to the dressing room as she did so. She saw the man reach around Jesse and run his fingers through her daughter's perfect dark brown locks, and it angered her. It sent chills of anger down her spine. Shelby Corcoran was pissed.

As if by magic, Shelby beat Russ and Leah to her daughter and stepped in between the man and her now sobbing child and she smacked his hand away.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Shelby asked, flames of fury blazing in her eyes.

"I just came to see my…"

"Let's get this straight, Leroy Berry, she is nothing to you. Rachel is _my _daughter. She is _nothing_ to you. If you do not leave…"

"I will call the cops," Russ's voice boomed from behind the man, "if you do not leave them alone. I know people. People who would make you cringe every time you thought of the name Rachel. Shelby, do you want to take the children back to the dressing room?"

Shelby nodded thankfully towards Russ, and glanced helplessly at Leah, who nodded towards the four kids in front of them and then pointed towards the doors which lead to the dressing rooms.

"Mommy." Rachel sobbed in a near whisper. She was clinging to Jesse, who Shelby had a sudden influx of gratitude for, but she wanted her mother.

Shelby opened her arms and Rachel jumped towards her, wrapping her arms around Shelby's neck, her legs not quite reaching the floor because her mother was so much taller than she was. She didn't care who saw her. She was upset and she needed her mom. Leroy Berry had scared her the last time, but this was on a completely different level.

"Come on, Jesse, Santana, Brittney." Rachel heard her mother day.

Shelby was thankful that Rachel weighed practically nothing, and that she was a good eight or nine inches taller than her daughter, else carrying her would have been a problem because she scooped her up instead of making her walk. She hadn't carried Rachel in a while, but carrying her would be easier at the moment and probably faster.

"Shel, do you want me to take her?" Logan asked, coming up from behind Shelby. Rachel heard him and held tighter to her mother.

"Don't let him touch me!" Rachel growled as she sunk farther into her mother's arm, planting her face in her neck. Tears were streaming down her face and people were starting to look their way so Shelby shook her head no and just walked towards the doors at the back of the auditorium. "Judy and Beth close to where our seats were. I will be back in a bit, Logan." The man nodded. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he knew that whoever that man was that Russ was now threatening was no one good. Especially with Rachel so upset and Shelby looking so frighteningly angry.

Shelby didn't know where anyone else was, though she had seen Judy holding Beth on her hip. She knew that she could focus on Rachel right now. She walked with Rachel and Jesse, Santana, and Brittney were close behind them. They walked towards the dressing room, and Shelby stopped right beside a single bathroom that was right beside their dressing room.

"Guys, I am going to take Rachel in the bathroom for a few minutes. We will be back in a minute. Go in the dressing room. Quinn should be in there, along with the other kids."

Jesse nodded, but looked uncertainly at Rachel.

Shelby patted Rachel's back soothingly.

"Don't worry, Jesse. She will be fine." Shelby smiled. She could tell how worried the boy was about her daughter.

"I want to go back out there and kick that loco's ass!" Santana said steely. Her own eyes were flashing angrily, thinking of what she might be able to get away with before she realized that she was talking in front of Ms. Corcoran.

"No, Santana. If you leave that dressing room before I come in there and tell you that you can, you will be in trouble. Do you understand me? There is enough trouble going on without us having to make sure you don't go out and cause another scene."

Santana was thinking. She really wanted to go out there…

"Santana. Do I need to go get your mother?" Shelby knew that Santana always listened to her mother, even if she didn't listen to anyone else.

"No. I won't go anywhere." Santana said quickly.

"Good. Go on. We will see you in a moment." Shelby watched as Brittney pushed Santana into the dressing room and she turned around, "Don't worry, Ms. Corcoran, I won't let her go anywhere. I will tell her I won't make out with her ever again if she disobeys you." The girl said airily. Shelby nodded, and then shook her head when the girl went in the dressing room. Did these kids only think about sex?

"Go on, Jesse. If Santana tries to leave, please come get me."

Jesse nodded and finally went into the dressing room and Shelby took Rachel into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

"He touched my hair and my face and my neck, Mama...I don't understand why it made me feel so dirty." Rachel sobbed into her mother's neck.

Shelby looked at the sink to make sure that it was clean, and when she saw that it was, she set Rachel on the counter.

Shelby grabbed several paper towels and wet them. She gently wiped Rachel's tears from her face, and then wiped at the places Leroy's fingers had touched.

"Mama, I don't understand…" Rachel whispered.

"Baby, I know. That man…that man out there. He is not the man he was fifteen years ago. But you don't have to worry about that because you have a family. A family that will protect you and watch out for you and love you without ever willingly hurting you. Even Santana was ready to go out there, though if she does, she will regret it after I told her no."

"He kept saying 'you have Hiram's eyes…I always loved Hiram's eyes'…he scares me, Mama. He just shows up…" Rachel said, stretching her arms to wrap them around her mother's neck again. Shelby obliged and wrapped her own arms around Rachel.

"I know, baby girl. I know." Shelby said, rocking her back and forth.

"I want to go home."

"Don't you want to see if you and your team won?"

"Yea. But not if he is still out there. I don't want to see him again."

"Uncle Russ was going to make sure that he left. He will be gone before you ever leave this bathroom."

"Okay." Rachel whispered.

Shelby rubbed Rachel's back. Her daughter looked so defeated, her makeup all over her face as tears still fell down her cheeks. She didn't know what Rachel's fears really were about Leroy Berry, but she knew that something about the man sent a bad vibe out. Rachel had not been the first to say that to her. She had felt it. Selene Garcia had felt it. Santana and Jesse had felt it.

If what Rachel said was true, and she knew that everything her daughter had told her about the man was, Leroy sounded like he was looking for something that reminded him of Hiram in Rachel. The only thing that remotely looked like Hiram on Rachel was her eye color. Nothing more. Everything else was the spitting image of Shelby, even the shapes of her eyes. What Shelby didn't understand, though, was why the man had waited so long to try and see the girl. Had it been not long after Rachel had been born, Shelby might have allowed him to visit the little girl. But he had gone off the deep end, that much was apparent, and he would not be talking to her daughter. Rachel was nothing to him, and she would remain that way.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for all of the reviews. They mean a lot too me:) So, what did everyone think? **


	22. Anything You Can Do

**Twenty-Two: Anything You Can Do …**

Leah had offered to ride the bus back to the school with Will and the few kids who had to ride it back home so that Shelby could take Rachel home. The winner had not yet been announced, but Rachel was adamant that she leave the building now. Not after the winner was announced, but right at that moment. No matter where Shelby moved, Rachel had a hold of Shelby's shirt, or arm, and Shelby knew that it was best if she got her daughter out of the auditorium they were now in before the girl had a meltdown, which she felt was fast approaching. Shelby would rather be in the car or at home when that happened.

Shelby had sent a text to Judy, Leah, Logan, and Will, who had been filled in by Terri and Leah about what had happened while he had been trying to round up kids. The four came to the dressing room, where Shelby was sitting in a chair outside the door, with Rachel on her lap, her face hidden by Shelby's neck and hair, her hand under Shelby's shirt so that she could clutch her mother's shirt and at the same time feel her mother's skin next to her. Shelby sighed as she held Rachel as close to her as possible.

It had been a while since Rachel had grabbed at her shirt from underneath so that she could feel her mother's skin. Shelby had thought Rachel was finally over that phase, a phase that Shelby had started to begin with to get Rachel to stop reaching down the top of her shirt when she was a toddler.

Since she had breast fed Rachel until well into the girl's second year of life after realizing that she would never have another child after Rachel, Rachel had quickly began doing what most breast fed babies do every time they decide that they want to be fed: she started putting her arm down the front of Shelby's shirt to fiddle with Shelby's bra in order to let her mother know that she wanted to be fed. It was something that Shelby had thought would pass quickly, but it didn't, even after several months.

Rachel hadn't cared where they were, whether they were in public or at home, she would stick her hand down the top of Shelby's shirt. Once, when Rachel had been nearly two, Shelby had been buying coffee at a coffee shop while she and Rachel had been out for a walk, which they did regularly because Rachel enjoyed it. Rachel had been in her stroller, but had started to fuss because they weren't moving and her mommy was taking too long, so Shelby picked her up while she waited. Rachel's entire arm had automatically delved down Shelby's top, unbuttoning all of the snaps on Shelby's shirt as she did so, leaving her mother completely exposed for several moments as she quickly put a howling Rachel back in her stroller, buckling her up, and held her shirt together so that she could go to the bathroom and button it back up. Shelby had looked at the barista, blushing, and told her that she would be back momentarily to get her coffee. The smiling barista has nodded. She had kids too, so the look on that mom's face was one she had worn before herself. Luckily, there had not been many other people in the shop as she rolled the strolled one handed with Rachel screaming from the seat back to the bathroom to button her shirt.

So, when Shelby finally decided that she had to do something in order to get Rachel to stop, she would move the little girl's hands down to the bottom of her shirt if she could, usually when Rachel was sitting on Shelby's lap or when Shelby had her lying down in her arms, her right or left arm dangling down Shelby's stomach. That was about the time when Rachel started coming to her mother when she was upset or scared, and she would stick her hand up her mother's shirt and clutch her shirt, touching Shelby's skin as she did. Sometimes she would do it and lay her head on Shelby's stomach, too. It was a comfort to the little girl, and it was not as obvious as Rachel sticking her hand down the top of her shirt was.

However, it never really went away. While sometimes Rachel would merely hold onto Shelby's shirt, when she was really upset and wanted no one but her mom, she would put her hand up Shelby's shirt to have the skin on skin contact and still be able to hold onto the shirt. That was how Rachel was now. Sitting in Shelby's lap, Rachel had her hand resting against Shelby's stomach as she clutched the purple shirt Shelby was wearing in her hand. Shelby was only barely able to keep her shirt down enough to cover her stomach and back, but she had a jacket covering Rachel and herself anyways because Rachel's skin had been cold after they had left the bathroom.

Shelby looked at all the people in front of her. She had not yet let the kids leave the dressing room, and every time that they tried, she sent them back in to wait on Will. She knew that part of it was their worry about Rachel, and part of it was that they wanted to help Santana find Leroy, who Judy had told her had been made to leave. It didn't matter though, that the man was gone, because Rachel still wanted to go home. It actually worried Shelby because it wasn't like Rachel. She was a competitor at heart, and at the moment her baby girl didn't even care whether they won or not.

"Where is Beth?" Shelby asked them.

"Terri has her and Wilde. I didn't want her to come back here. She doesn't really understand what was going on, and I figured that you would like to keep it that way." Leah said. Shelby nodded. One clingy child at the moment was enough.

"Leah, if you really don't mind riding the bus with Will, then Beth can go with Judy, Russ, and Terri. Her booster seat is in Terri's car anyways. Also, you three need to keep an eye on Santana. She was ready to go after Leroy. We all know how she can get when she sets her mind to something. Logan is going to take us to the house."

Rachel tightened her hold on her mother when she heard that Logan was going to take them home. She didn't like that. Not at all. She needed her mother right now; she did not need Logan around. She sure didn't want to share her Mom with him.

"I wanna go, Mama." Rachel mumbled into Shelby's ear. Shelby nodded and rubbed her back.

"Okay, we are going to go. Will, are you sure that it is okay?" Shelby looked at him. She knew that Leah was there to help, but the kids didn't know Leah.

"Yea, go ahead. You have more important things to take care of right now. Most of the kids are riding home with their parents, and Leah will be on the bus with me. Apparently she is more hardcore than you are..." Will said, then blushed. He had been repeating what he had heard Kurt tell some of the kids when he had mentioned Leah in the dressing room a few minutes prior.

"Hm. Looks like Kurt and I need to have a talk," Leah laughed. Leah wasn't around the kids as much as Shelby and Judy were, but she still had a relationship with them. She and Kurt had always gotten along really well.

Shelby laughed.

"Okay. Judy, you are sure about Beth?"

Judy narrowed her eyes and raised on of her eyebrows. Judy often thought of Shelby as a little sister. She was nearly fifteen years older than Shelby, and at times she wondered if Shelby remembered that she had raised two children and was, in fact, a grandmother. She shook her head at Shelby and smiled.

"We have got her. Take Rachel home. I will call you when we find out who won, and then again when we get close to your house so that I can bring Beth by." Judy said. She had a feeling that the young mother would want both of her babies near her tonight after seeing Leroy.

"Thank you." Shelby whispered, and then nodded to Logan so they could go. She started to stand and Logan helped her since she still had a crying Rachel in her arms.

"Rachel, baby, do you think that you can walk?" Shelby whispered in her ear.

Rachel tightened her grip on her mother's shirt and shook her head. She wanted to be held. She didn't want to walk.

Again, Shelby thanked everything she could think of that her daughter was not heavy. Rachel was never going to be big. She was the shortest in her class, and hadn't yet tipped a hundred pounds. She was small boned and delicate. Beth was already going to be taller than Rachel in the next three or four years because Beth came up to Rachel's chest as it was. Shelby was never quite sure where Rachel had gotten her height from because she was not short and Hiram had not been either.

"Okay, baby girl."

Together, she, holding Rachel, and Logan walked out of the building into his car. Logan opened the back door so that Shelby could put Rachel in the seat and buckle her up.

But Rachel wasn't letting go that easily.

"I want you to sit with me." Rachel said, holding onto Shelby tightly. She had planned on sitting up front, but knew that she wouldn't be able to now. She looked up at Logan, an apologetic look on her face, and then told Rachel she had to let her go so that they could both get in the car.

Shelby buckled Rachel in the middle, and then buckled herself in. For some reason, she felt like it was going to be a long night. Rachel automatically laid her head in Shelby's lap despite her seatbelt, sticking her hand up her mom's shirt again. Shelby sighed and pulled her shirt down over Rachel's hand since the teenager had bunched it up. Shelby ran her fingers through Rachel's hair and leaned her head back on the seat. She caught Logan looking at her in the mirror and she smiled lightly at him. He smiled back at her and continued to drive them back to their home.

Forty-five minutes later, they were in front of the Corcoran home, and Rachel was asleep. Shelby gently nudged her to get her to wake up and then climbed out of the car. Rachel immediately climbed after her mom and stood close to her.

"Rach, baby, take my key and go on into the house." Shelby said gently.

"No." Rachel whined. She put her head on Shelby's back and stood there. Shelby sighed. She knew clingy Rachel was there to stay, at least for the moment.

"Logan would you like to come in for a bit?" Shelby asked.

Rachel stomped her foot and pulled on her mom.

"Noooo," Rachel whined and pulled at Shelby, "Mama, I want you to come lay with me." Rachel worked up some tears and had them falling down her face. She did not want Logan in the house with them. He was trying to take her mom away from her and Beth, and he was probably just like Leroy…he was probably crazy. They didn't need any more crazy in their lives.

"Rachel, stop being rude." Shelby said lightly.

"Mama, I don't want him to come in." Rachel whispered, her tears falling down her face as she leaned against Shelby's back and started playing with Shelby's shirt.

"Logan, I am so sorry." Shelby said. She didn't know why Rachel was acting that way, but she would let her have her way…tonight. She was not going to get away with continuously acting the way she was right now, though.

But, Shelby would let it slide for now.

"It is okay, Shel. I will call you later. You have more important things to worry about right now. I will make sure the two of you get into the house, and then I will leave."

Behind Shelby, Rachel smiled triumphantly into her Mom's back, but let it disappear just as quickly when Shelby turned to guide her into the house.

Within five minutes, Logan was gone, and Shelby was guiding Rachel upstairs so that Rachel could change her clothes.

"I left my stuff." Rachel whimpered.

"I know. Aunt Judy and Aunt Leah were going to get it."

"Do..do…you think we did good?" Rachel sobbed as Shelby unzipped her dress while she held her hair out of the way and she went to take off the dress off so that Shelby could hang it up. Rachel didn't even wait for Shelby's answer as she walked into her mom's bathroom and turned on the shower. She felt so dirty. She didn't understand it, but she needed to shower. She needed to get the grimy feel of Leroy Berry off of her…the way he had touched her hair and neck and shoulder…the things he had said. They all left a bad taste in Rachel's mouth.

She waited until the water was hot and then took her clothes off and stepped into the stemming water. She had not realized how tense she was until the hot water began to massage her body.

Shelby watched Rachel from her bedroom as she held onto the dress that Rachel had handed her. She didn't know everything that Leroy had said, but she did know that he had touched her skin, and that was one of the main reasons that Rachel was so freaked out at the moment. Shelby couldn't lie and say she wasn't worried about Rachel, because she was.

Rachel had been in the shower for ten minutes when Shelby's phone rang. It was Judy, so she picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"_They won Shelby! They are going to Regionals three days before Rach's birthday!" _

"That is fantastic! I cannot wait to tell her." Shelby said, excited about the news that Judy had just given her.

"_How is Rachel? I have never seen her like that, Shelby."_

"I know. She is taking a shower right now. She wants me to lay down with her."

"_Do you want me to take Beth home with me? I know that you want them both close, but Beth is practically asleep as it is, but the time we get to the house, Russ or I will have to carry her to bed."_

Shelby thought for several moments. She did want both of her kids home, but Beth was going to be asleep and Rachel was still going to be really clingy. Shelby sighed.

"You can take her home if she doesn't care. If she wants to come home, though, please bring her."

"_Of course. Well, we are getting the kids together to leave. I had to take Santana straight to her mother because she was speaking in Spanish about needing to find Leroy. I do not understand why she always forgets that I can understand her when she talks."_ Judy said. Shelby wanted to laugh, because Santana did forget that quite often, but she was also irritated. She had told Santana under no circumstances was she to go look for Leroy. She was going to have to speak with that girl on Monday.

"Thank you for everything, Judy. I will see you tomorrow if not tonight."

"_Bye."_

Shelby hung up the phone and looked at the clock. Rachel had been in the shower nearly twenty minutes. Shelby stood up and walked into the bathroom to check on Rachel.

Shelby could tell that Rachel was sitting on the shower floor, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin on top of her knees, letting the water run over her. Shelby sighed and went to the towel cabinet and pulled out a large, fluffy, purple towel out and then turned to the shower. She opened the curtain and turned the water off.

Rachel looked up at Shelby.

"Come on, baby girl. It is time to get out." Shelby said, holding the towel open. Rachel stood up and let her mom wrap the towel around her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Shelby asked.

Rachel wrapped the towel around herself tighter and looked up at her mom.

"He asked me 'wouldn't you like to be held by a man who was supposed to be your daddy'. Jesse was holding me and he said that because he said that I was too young to be with a boy…but…Mama, I don't think he meant that in a fatherly way." Rachel whimpered.

Fire made its way through Shelby's veins. No, she didn't expect that Leroy had meant it that way, but her daughter sure as hell shouldn't have to realize that. Her fourteen year old child should never understand the underlying meaning of a man like Leroy Berry. Shelby had suspected as much when she had heard what Leroy said about Hiram's eyes. He was looking for a replacement for what he had lost.

"I don't think he did either, baby." Shelby said. She was not going to lie to her daughter.

"Sit on the edge of my bed. I will go get you some clothes."

"Just my panties. I want to wear one of your shirts." Rachel whimpered. Shelby nodded. She had known that. Rachel wouldn't wear a bra to bed, so she didn't have to worry about that.

Shelby was back quickly and Rachel was dressed, the Wicked shirt she had, hanging off of her frame. Shelby went to get her brush and gently brushed through Rachel's hair and then braided it since it was wet. She didn't want her hair to tangle, and it would if it was wet. Both Shelby and Rachel's hair would.

"Can we watch something on TV? SpongeBob?" Rachel asked quietly. Shelby smiled. She went over to her dresser and opened one of her drawers that held socks and pulled out the SpongeBob movie that Rachel hid in there away from everyone except Shelby and Beth. She didn't watch it often, but she liked too after a tough day. Sometimes she could entice Beth to watch it with her, but surprisingly, the five year old did not like the yellow, underwater sponge.

Shelby put the DVD in and then changed into her own pajamas. Rachel was lying in the middle of the bed, so she scooted her over and climbed in.

Rachel laid her head in Shelby's lap and pushed Shelby's shirt up for the millionth time that night so she could hold her shirt.

"He scares me, Mama. He scared me so much." Rachel murmured.

"I know, baby. I am not going to let anything happen to you." Shelby cooed as she lightly danced her fingers over Rachel's forehead and cheek.

"I know." Rachel said, snuggling closer to Shelby, if that was possible.

Shelby held Rachel close to her while the child watched the stupid talking sponge on the tv. Shelby's mind was not on the movie though. It was on everything else. She had threatened Leroy. Russ had also threatened him, and if Shelby knew Russ as well as she thought she did, it would be wise on Leroy's part to never speak to Rachel again. While Russ didn't talk about it, he was a business man at heart and he knew people. People who could get things done if necessary.

Hopefully, Leroy would not make them necessary because Russell Fabray did not mess around.

And no one messed with his family. Whether people realized it or not, Beth was not the only Corcoran who Russ considered family. Shelby and Rachel were just as much his family as the little five year old was. Just as Wilde and Will and Terri now were.

Shelby was thankful for that.

"Jesse was going to protect me. Him and Santana. Quinnie ran to get you." Rachel whispered, tears sliding down her face and into her mother's lap.

"I know, baby. You have good friends."

"Do you think that maybe now me and Jesse could hang out here some?" Rachel asked. She had been told not to ask again until her mom told her the decision she had made, but Rachel knew that she wouldn't get in trouble for asking this time. Sometimes you have to know when to ask. Jesse had stepped in front of her to keep Leroy away from her when he had realized that she was afraid. Santana had too, but she didn't have a problem getting her mom to let Santana come over.

"I think I could agree to that." Shelby said, willing to agree to just about anything to see even a hint of a smile on her child's face.

"Thank you, Mama." Rachel said, the corners of her mouth moving only a bit. It wasn't what Shelby was wanting, but it would work.

Shelby ran her fingers through a few strands of hair that was loose from Rachel's braid.

"I love you." Shelby whispered.

"I love you, too." Rachel said, burrowing down once more as tears slid out of the corners of her eyes.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

By Monday, Rachel was less clingy than she had been Saturday, but that was not saying much. She hadn't wanted to go to school, and at first Shelby had thought that maybe she was still getting slushied at school. However, after questioning her, Shelby discovered that she had not been slushied since Quinn because it had spread through school rather quickly that Ms. Corcoran's daughter was not one to mess with. Quinn's black eye the next Monday had helped, but most of it had been because Tess Peters was now afraid to even look at Rachel if she thought that Ms. Corcoran was close by. Therefore, not one slushy had made its way to Rachel. Shelby was glad because she was not in the mood to put up with any sniveling teenager telling her why he or she 'accidently' slushied her daughter.

Shelby knew that she would not be forgiving, even less so since everything that had happened the past weekend. Shelby already had to have a meeting with one Miss Santana Lopez for disobeying her orders, and other than that she wanted nothing to do with her students on this Monday if it concerned disobedience.

There was a knock at her door and she looked up, issuing a "Come in," as she did. Santana, as cocky as ever, came walking in wearing her Cheerios uniform with a smirk on her face.

She had no idea why she was in Ms. Corcoran's office.

"Skan….err… Macey Layes said that you wanted to see me, Ms. C." Santana said, sitting in the chair directly in front of Shelby.

Shelby eyed the girl in front of her carefully for a full minute before she spoke. She could tell that it was making the girl nervous, which was normally impossible because the latina often thought herself invincible in front of everyone except her own mother.

"Miss Lopez, what was the last thing that I told you Saturday night when I sent you into the dressing room?"

Shelby watched the look of confusion cross Santana's face.

"Do you need help remembering the events, Miss Lopez, or are you going to play dumb?" Shelby asked the girl in front of her.

"Wow, Ms. C, I really don't know what you are hinting at." Santana was quick to point out as she held her hands up in a mini surrender.

Shelby leaned forward in her seat, her weight on her arms which were crossed on her desk.

"Miss Lopez, I asked you if I needed to take you to your mother. I asked you that not to embarrass you in front of your friends, but to ensure that you would not try to go look for the man who approached Rachel."

Santana paled, but stood her ground. She was positive that Ms. C didn't really have anything on her.

"I didn't." Santana said.

"Do you know who that man was, Miss Lopez? At the time everything happened, when you were ready to go and, I quote, "kick that loco's ass", did you know anything about him?"

Santana swallowed and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I asked you a question, Miss Lopez." Shelby said, her steely gaze directed straight at the teenager's eyes.

"He just kept talking about her eyes…but the Diva was freaked out! Nothing freaks her out like that unless you are hot on her ass about something! And Jesse…while he was ready to protect her with everything he had, his scrawny ass wasn't about to last long. That man was crazy!"

Shelby closed her eyes for a few moments and then opened them again.

"Santana, first of all, watch your language. Curse again, and I will have you writing lines until your hand feels like it is going to fall off. Secondly, you have no idea what that man is capable of. Would it not have been wiser to get an adult than to confront him? He was drunk. Have you ever been around a man with an obsession that he can't seem to quite control under normal circumstances, let alone when he is an obvious alcoholic? Santana, you are fifteen years old…"

"You have no proof that I was going to do anything! I went into the dressing room and then I went out to my mother with Mrs. Fabray!" Santana said hurriedly.

Shelby stood up and walked around her desk and leaned against the front of it, directly in front of Santana.

"You always forget, Santana, always, that Judy Fabray can speak Spanish. She didn't take you directly to your mother for no reason. She heard you mumbling in Spanish about going and finding that man. At the time, he was already out of the building. But I want you to promise me, Santana, that you will not confront him if you see him again. I get that you think you have to put up this front, that you have to seem 'badass' in front of your friends, but in front of me, in front of any responsible adult, you are not 'badass'. On the contrary, you are just like every other teenager that we work with and try to protect. You are vulnerable. That man the other day, Santana, is infatuated with Rachel. A nearly fifty year old, gay man is infatuated with my fourteen year old daughter because her eyes remind him of the man he loved long ago. I have to worry about her every time she leaves my sight, and because I cannot trust you to obey my orders, I have to worry about you, Santana." Shelby chastised the girl in front of her. She was serious. No one knew what Leroy was capable of.

Santana sunk down in her seat. She had never felt quite as stupid as she did at the current moment.

"Santana, I am not saying this to hurt you. I am saying these things so that you will realize how serious things could have turned on Saturday had you confronted that man the way you intended. You are just a kid, Santana. Fifteen years is not very many years. Not in the grand scheme of things. Do you understand?"

A tear slipped down Santana's face and she angrily wiped it away. She was Santana Lopez, she did not _do_ tears.

"I understand." Santana mumbled.

"Here." Shelby said, handing the girl a tissue. She hadn't meant to make the girl cry, but she also wasn't going to make a big deal about it. The girl was more vulnerable than she liked to think, and Shelby knew that her pride was currently hurting. She took the tissue and clutched it in her hand.

"I am serious, Santana. If I find out that you have seen that man and you confront him, you will be sorry. I am telling you this for your own good. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Santana said, finally looking back up into Shelby's eyes.

"Good girl."

Santana swallowed and looked into Shelby's eyes, "I really thought it would help Rachel. Rachel is so…little. Someone has to protect her. I know she has you, but you weren't around. Jesse is only a bit taller than she is, what was he going to do? I was trying to help."

Shelby cupped the girl's cheek and stared down into her glistening eyes as another tear slid down her face.

"I know, Santana, and now I am doing what I must to make sure that you remain safe by doing what I say. Understood? Tempt me, and you will be sorry."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good girl. You may leave once you are ready." Shelby said, knowing the girl would not want to leave her office just yet.

Five minutes later, Santana threw the tissue in her hand away and walked to the door. Before she opened it she turned around, "If you tell anyone I cried in your office…"

"Go on, Miss Lopez." Shelby said with a hint of a smile. Santana knew she wouldn't.

But she had needed to make sure.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Wednesday was the first day that Shelby had been able to get more than ten feet away from Rachel while they were at home since the Saturday and the only reason that it was possible was because Shelby had finally caved and let Jesse come home with them after Glee. He was going to stay for dinner and then his parents were going to come pick him up. She had lectured them on the do's and don't's of her house on the way home, and she expected the rules to be followed, but she was more than happy to allow the boy to come over.

The only downside, in Rachel's opinion, was that Logan was there. But since Jesse was there, and it was the first day that week that he had been there, Rachel was able to ignore it.

Beth, not so much. Once she had found out that Logan was coming, she had stomped up the stairs to her room and slammed the door shut.

Her mommy had not even realized it! And no one was supposed to slam doors in the house. It was a rule. Now Beth was in her throwing some of her dolls into her playhouse. The one doll she never played with, the daddy, she dug out of her toy chest and threw it at her window in anger.

And it cracked the window.

Beth swallowed.

"Uh oh." She whispered to herself. What in the world was she going to do now? She had been playing in the yard one time and had thrown a ball at the house and it had only _hit_ the window and she had gotten in trouble and had been told never to throw anything towards a window again.

And now she had thrown something on purpose, while she was mad, and cracked the window. She was going to be in so much trouble.

Rachel! Beth's head picked up as she thought about it. Rachel could help her! Rachel pretty much knew everything!

Beth ran out of her room and into Rachel's, which was easy because Rachel still didn't have a door. Rachel didn't know it, but Mommy had hid her door in the back of Mommy's closet. Beth had seen it one day when she was hiding.

Beth froze when she saw her sister. Because her sister was kissing Jesse!

"Sister!" Beth yelled, causing Rachel and Jesse to jump apart.

"Beth…" Rachel growled. She just knew that Beth was going to run down and tell their mom that she had seen her and Jesse kissing. It wasn't even like they were making out! They were just kissing a tiny bit…to get the feel of it! On the way home from Glee, her mom had said that she and Jesse were not to be making out or kissing or anything while they were up here alone.

And now Beth had caught them. Rachel knew that her mom and Logan were downstairs, and the fifth step on the stairs squeaked a bit, so she would know when her mom headed up because she would be listening. Normally she ignored it, but today she had been listening for it.

"Beth…" Rachel started.

"I won't tell Mommy if you help me!" Beth said, nearly in tears. Rachel gently pushed Jesse over and stood up and walked over to Beth.

"Sis, what is wrong?" Rachel asked, concerned. Beth really wasn't a crier. Not unless she was in major trouble, sick, or hurt.

"I need you to help me, Sister! Mommy is gonna spank me if you don't!"

Jesse, who was an only child, could just barely hold his laughter despite the fact that he felt sorry for the little girl.

"What did you do?"

"Come to my room and I will show you."

Beth grabbed Rachel's hand and the two, followed by Jesse walked into Beth's room where Beth pointed to the window. Rachel gasped.

"Sis, what did you do?" Rachel asked, glancing closely at the window.

"I was mad because stupid Logan is here _again_ and I threw the daddy doll that I never use at the window. Sister, I didn't mean too, I swear. Please help me!"

Rachel looked at her little sister and felt sorry for her, but how in the world were they going to hide that huge, shattered crack in the window?

"I have an idea." Jesse said. He didn't want Beth to get into trouble either. And, he and Rachel both wanted to be on Broadway one day, they needed to perfect their acting skills.

Both girls looked at him expectantly.

"Okay, here is the deal, me and Rachel came in here to play with you because you asked, and I couldn't refuse even though Rachel didn't really want too. Well, then you and I ganged up on Rachel and started to tickle her. How good are the two of you at fake tears?"

Beth and Rachel looked at one another and smiled. Fake tears they could do.

Downstairs, Shelby could hear the kids all laughing upstairs. She and Logan were sitting on the couch together, snuggling and enjoying the laughter of her children and Jesse.

"Mommy!" Beth suddenly yelled, tears in her voice. Shelby jumped up, followed by Logan, and the two of them ran up the stairs into Beth's room.

"We didn't mean too, Mommy. We was just playin! Rachie didn't even want to play but Jesse said it might be fun!" Beth cried when she saw her mother. Beth jumped into her arms and sobbed before Shelby even knew what was going on.

"Mom, I am so sorry. I fell into the window and it just cracked!" Rachel cried into her hands, hiding behind Jesse.

"Ms. Corcoran, I am sorry. Beth and I were just messing with Rachel and we tangled up and Rachel fell into the window…we must have landed into it a bit hard, and it cracked. I take full responsibility for it." Jesse said, shamefaced, looking at the floor.

Shelby shook her head to clear it from all the kids talking at once and then looked at the sullen kids around her.

"Okay, guys, let's all calm down. It is okay. I promise. Accidents happen. I am not mad at any of you. I am just glad that no one fell through the window, or was hurt. We can easily get a new window, but if you guys would have gone through the window you would have been seriously hurt. Now let's dry all the tears and calm down. Bethie, do you want to go watch some television while I get supper ready?"

Beth nodded sullenly and then climbed off of her mother. Shelby looked at the other two.

"You guys be more careful. I will call you when supper is finished." Shelby said.

"I am sorry, Mom." Rachel said, sniffing.

"It is okay, love." Shelby said, smiling at her.

"That is an odd looking crack," Logan added, staring intently at the window, "Almost like something hard and small hit it…" He said to himself.

Jesse, Rachel, and Beth glared at him.

"Duh, Rachel's head is hard and small!" Beth hissed.

"Beth, be nice. Rach, baby, let me see your head." Shelby said as she moved to feel Rachel's head. When she felt nothing, she kissed Rachel's forehead.

"I think that you are going to be just fine, Love." She said. Rachel nodded and smiled through her tears.

Soon, Shelby and Logan walked down the stairs and Beth walked towards her mother's room while Jesse and Rachel walked to hers…at the doorways, they all turned and smiled at one another.

Jesse gave Beth a thumbs up.

She was going to be a good actress, too. Just like her big sister. And while she didn't really like Logan, she really liked Jesse.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby had decided that she truly did like Jesse. Rachel didn't act differently around him like she would do with some of her friends at school and the young boy had some of the same huge dreams that Rachel and Kurt had. They all wanted to go to New York and they all wanted to make it big on Broadway. Jesse was another person that Rachel could talk to about those dreams, something that she was not able to do with many people.

By Saturday night, Shelby was thankful that Beth was going to the Garcia's and that Rachel was spending the night with Kurt because Finn was going to his grandparents because both children had ended up being super clingy by the end of the week and Shelby, who loved her children more than anything, was worn out from having to constantly trip over them every time she turned around. She felt like they needed a break too. Maybe if they were not around her, they would both get over this little clingy stage.

Shelby was not comfortable letting Rachel go over to spend the night with Kurt while Finn was there because she knew that they had secretly gone out several times behind her back. Shelby wasn't playing that game, and be damned if she would cater to it even if Rachel was so infatuated by Jesse St. James.

Shelby had gone out on a date with Logan, and now the two were watching television, cuddled together in her room. She had changed into a pair of pajamas to be comfortable, and he had feigned hot and slipped his shirt off, showing off several tattoos that Shelby had not yet seen. They had gone to eat and then rented several movies that neither of them had watched before.

It was the perfect night.

On the other side of town, Rachel was watching a movie with Kurt, and her eyes were getting heavy. She was still having a hard time getting over what had happened at Sectionals, and she really wanted her mom. She hadn't been away from her Mom much that week and she was starting to regret coming over to Kurt's even though they had had fun.

"You want to go home, don't you?" Kurt said, knowingly. He knew his friend, and knew her well. Hell, they had bathed together as toddlers. You just knew shit about each other when you did stuff like that when you were small.

"Yea. I am sorry, Kurt. It is just…" Rachel stopped talking because she didn't want to start crying.

"There is no need to explain anything to me, Diva. I understand. Finn is home…I wasn't going to tell you, but apparently he and his grandparents got into some disagreement so he came home early. He will take you home. I'll ride with."

Rachel smiled at Kurt and nodded.

"I just still feel really uneasy about everything since last week." Rachel said quietly. Kurt came over and threw his arm over her.

"I know. It will all be okay."

Despite the fact that it was nearly midnight, they were on their way within five minutes. Ten minutes after that, they were pulled up to the side of the house so that Rachel could go in the back, where she wouldn't make as much noise and wake up her mother.

She turned at the door and waved bye to the two boys from where they were on the side street. There house was on the corner, and that made it easier to get to the back door.

Rachel only had one thing in mind: she wanted her mom. She dropped her bag on the floor at the bottom of the stairs and walked up them, skipping the fifth step because she figured that her mom was asleep.

Rachel opened the door to her mother's room and stepped in.

What she saw made her stop cold.

The television was on, sending a blue hue over the room from the menu of whatever random movie was in the DVD player.

And in her mother's bed was not only her mother, but Logan too.

"What the _fuck_?" Rachel screamed. Shelby jumped up from her bed, her eyes sleepily open, but the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She was used to being woken in the middle of the night. Logan was not. He fell to the floor.

Her mother was only wearing a tank top and pajama shorts. Logan was in his jeans but there was no shirt around.

Rachel was angry. Really angry. What the _hell_?

"What is he doing here?" Rachel yelled, her hands on her hips, demanding answers from her mother. Shelby's eyebrows rose up. She might be still trying to wake from the sleep she had just been jostled from, but she didn't like Rachel's tone at all. Not at _all_.

"Excuse me? Young lady, you are supposed to be at Kurt's." Shelby said, her hands making her way to her hips.

"What are you doing?" Rachel demanded again, pointing her right hand at the bed. She _really_ did not like this.

"We were watching a movie, Rachel Barbra, I want to know why you are home and didn't call first." Shelby said. She wasn't trying to be mean or cruel, but Rachel knew that she was supposed to call if she decided she didn't want to stay somewhere so that Shelby would know that she needed to be picked up or was on her way because Shelby did not like not knowing where her child was.

"Oh don't worry. I will go back and leave you with your boy-toy so you can both continue your little sleepover! Have fun!" Rachel yelled throwing her hands up in the air.

Rachel turned around and walked away but then turned and grabbed the door. She grabbed it and slammed it shut as loud as she could.

She wanted to slam her own door, but she didn't have one. So, she went into her room, grabbed her pillow, duck, and blanket, and went into the bathroom, slamming the door as hard as she could as well, and locked it behind her. She would have went into Kurt, Quinn, or Beth's room, but that was against the rules. They were never supposed to go into one another's room without permission. Besides, if she went into the bathroom, she wouldn't have to leave to use the bathroom. That would have made the storm out she had just committed to so much less effective.

Since her mother could do whatever the hell she wanted, then Rachel felt that she should have the same rights.

So, she would make plans to do what _she _wanted as well.

* * *

**AN: This chapter is a bit longer than most...a lot happened, and a lot is about to happen. I hope that everyone enjoyed it. It may be a few days before I update again, though I am not sure. It depends on a few real life obstacles. Regardless, I would love to know what you think... **

**Someone asked me about Logan being a tattoo artist and not being covered in tattoos. I think of him as a man who has several tattoos...as shown in this chapter...but ones that he can keep hidden because he works at an art museum during the day. He likes being able to keep the tattoos hidden when he wants. **

**I try to answer everyone's questions, and if I don't, let me know. Sometimes I mean to answer questions, and then I end up forgetting. **

**Thanks for all of the reviews!:)**


	23. I Can Do Better

**Chapter Twenty-Three: …I Can Do Better**

Shelby Corcoran had no idea what had just happened in front of her. Her first reaction was anger. Who did Rachel think she was to talk to her the way she just had?

Shelby sighed. She and Logan really had not meant to fall asleep. She was thankful that they had just been sleeping. She could just imagine what Rachel would have done had they been doing more than simply sleeping.

Regardless, even if they had been doing more, nothing gave Rachel the right to speak to her with that attitude of hers that was popping up so much lately.

"I will be back in a moment." Shelby told Logan who looked like he still didn't quite understand what had just happened. He just nodded and rubbed his face.

Shelby marched into Rachel's room, but somehow, she had known that the girl wouldn't be in there. She had heard two doors slam: her own, and presumably Beth and Rachel's bathroom that sat between their rooms. Shelby looked around Rachel's room and noticed that one of her pillows, her duck, and her fuzzy blanket were missing.

She twisted the doorknob to the bathroom only to find it locked. She knew that all three doors that led to that bathroom would also be locked. Shelby rattled the doorknob.

"Rachel Barbra Corcoran, let me in this bathroom right now!" Shelby said through the doorway. This was not how she had wanted to spend her Saturday night.

"Go. Away! I am not talking to you!" Rachel shouted from the tub where she had padded the bottom with all of the clean towels that had been in the cabinet and then put her pillow and duck under her head. The blanket was over the side of the tub right now because Rachel's anger was literally making her hot. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her feet were thrown over the side of the tub.

Shelby took a deep breath.

"Rachel Barbra Corcoran, I am not playing games with you!"

"And I am not playing games with you, Mom! _GO_ away! I am not talking to you!"

Shelby rolled her eyes. Her child was acting like a freaking toddler.

"You're right! You're not talking to me, you are yelling, which you know I do not appreciate!"

"Well then, you just better suck it up!" Rachel yelled.

Shelby's eyes widened. Oh no she did not just tell her to suck it up!

Shelby rattled the door once more for good measure, and then left. She would break that door down if she had too. She had another door she could easily put there. Because Rachel was probably never going to get her door back.

Shelby walked into her room and pulled open her closet. She had a tool box somewhere, but she had to keep it hidden from Beth. Beth loved taking things apart, and had gotten in trouble more than once by doing so.

And, she must have found it again because it most definitely was not in the closet.

"Shit." Shelby hissed.

"Is there anything that I can do, Shelby?" Logan asked her from where he was sitting on the side of the bed.

"I need something to take the bathroom door off the hinges." Shelby told him, looking up from where she was kneeling on the floor.

"I have a screwdriver. We can pop the doorknob off and it will open the door without taking the entire down."

Shelby nodded.

"Okay. That is fine. I don't know where she is at in the bathroom anyways, and I don't want the door falling on top of her."

"Yea, it will be the safest way."

Shelby nodded again. She was so angry right now. She almost wondered if it would be best if she left Rachel in the bathroom overnight. But she was not going to allow her daughter to get her way in this. Not this time.

Five minutes later, Shelby and Logan were standing at the door. Shelby was going to give Rachel one last chance.

"Rachel, open this door. I am not going to tell you again."

"Shove it, Mom!" Rachel yelled from her place in the tub. She didn't even care what her Mom did to her. She was so angry right now!

Suddenly, the doorknob fell to the floor and the door swung open. Logan was holding the knob and a screwdriver.

Her mother was standing behind him with her hands on her hips.

Rachel stood up in the tub and put her hands on her own hips.

"You had no right to do that! Especially with him! Why can't you just leave me alone?" Rachel hissed at Shelby. Shelby closed her eyes and walked away from the door. Logan followed her as she walked down the steps. At the bottom of the steps she moved Rachel's bags which had obviously been thrown there without a care.

Rachel, who was quite proud of herself, since she was able to get her mother to leave her alone. She sat back down in the tub and leaned back.

Downstairs, Shelby looked at Logan for several moments.

"I am so sorry, Logan. I do not know what her deal is."

"She is a teenager. I am sure that she was just surprised about what she saw, despite the fact that we merely fell asleep watching television. I should go so that you and she can talk." Logan said, though he actually felt that it was probably better if Shelby had no witnesses once she went upstairs to talk to her daughter.

"Thank you for being so understanding; I will call you tomorrow."

"Okay. I had a wonderful time tonight." Logan said.

"So did I." Shelby said, smiling up at him. He leaned down and kissed Shelby, a kiss that was in no way the chaste kisses they had shared so far. It was desperate, more needy.

Shelby had no doubt that if her fourteen year old wasn't upstairs and throwing a temper tantrum, that she and Logan would have moved things back to the bedroom.

She stepped back, her eyes apologetic.

"I understand." He whispered, "I will talk to you tomorrow."

With that, he walked out the door and towards his car.

Shelby shut and locked the door, and then turned to face the stairs, glaring up to the offending second floor.

She was calmer now than she had been, but still not calm enough to deal with Rachel. She was simply going to send the girl to bed, and then she would deal with her misconduct in the morning.

Shelby walked up the steps and then back into the bathroom where Rachel was still lying in the tub with her arms crossed over her chest. Shelby rolled her eyes.

"Is he gone now?" Rachel asked rudely.

Shelby gritted her teeth together.

"Get out of the tub and come on. You are going to bed."

"I am fine right here." Rachel shot back.

Shelby walked over to the tub and reached down, grabbing Rachel's arm and pulling her up.

"Let me go!"

"No."

"Yes! Go back to playing in bed with Logan! I know that is what you want! You want to fuc…"

Shelby then did something she had never done. She popped Rachel's mouth with her hand. It was not a hard pop, but she knew if Rachel finished her sentence that Shelby would have no control over her actions and she would spank Rachel right there. Shelby did not want to do that.

Rachel was shocked. She looked at her mother. She couldn't believe that her Mom had just popped her mouth. She had threatened it once, but never followed through.

"Do you really want to finish that sentence?" Shelby asked.

Rachel shook her head and looked down. She knew that she was pushing it. She was definitely pushing her mother.

"Do you want to continue this conversation tonight, or do you want to listen to me and go to bed?" Shelby asked. She still had a tight grip on Rachel's arm.

Rachel was silent. She didn't want to say anything.

"Answer me, Rachel."

"I wanna go to bed." She whispered so softly that Shelby almost didn't hear her.

"Then I want you to go and put your pajamas on and get in bed. In the morning, we will be talking about this. I am ashamed and disappointed in your behavior, Rachel. I have never felt this way about your actions before."

Tears built up in Rachel's eyes and she jerked her arm away so that she could turn and face her mom.

"You don't get it! You don't understand! He wasn't supposed to be here! I wanted to come home! He wasn't supposed to be here and he was and I wanted my Mom and _he_ was here! He was in your _bed_! Your _bed_, Mom! The only place Beth and I _always_ feel safe and he was there! I needed my mom tonight because I was scared! I was afraid and I needed you and you didn't even care!" Rachel screamed and cried.

Shelby stared at her daughter and then grabbed her again, but this time she pulled the screaming, crying girl to her chest. Rachel fought her. She fought with everything she had.

"No! I don't want you to try and hold me now!" Rachel cried, struggling against her mother. Shelby held strong and pulled Rachel against her and held her tight.

She felt Rachel give a little slack and fall into her mother and sob. Shelby held her and listened to the wracking sobs that were going through her entire body.

"Shhh. I always care, Rachel. Always." Shelby said, rocking back and forth on her feet.

Shelby felt Rachel's hand slide up her shirt and grasp it in her hand. Shelby smiled a little bit. She could feel Rachel's distress, but even then her daughter sought her comfort. Even when she didn't consciously want comfort, she subconsciously did.

"Come on, let's go to bed."

"No!" Rachel sobbed. She didn't want to. Not right now.

"Yes. Come on." Shelby said, leading Rachel into the girl's room. It might seem cruel, but she was going to make Rachel sleep in her own bed. Or at least start out there.

Rachel sobbed even more when Shelby gently pushed her down onto the bed and then walked over to Rachel's dresser and pulled out a shirt. She went over to Rachel and handed the shirt to her.

"Put that on, I will be right back." Shelby commanded.

Rachel sniffed and nodded. She quickly undressed and put the shirt on. She pulled her bare legs up on the bed and held them against her chest. Shelby walked back in and placed Rachel's pillow, duck, and blanket on the bed.

"Lie down." Shelby said gently.

Rachel sobbed.

"What is wrong?" Shelby asked, though she had her suspicions.

"I don't want to sleep alone." Rachel said quietly through her tears.

"Well, tonight you are. Lie down and don't get up unless you have to use the bathroom."

Rachel sobbed as her mother pulled her blankets up tight around her and placed the faded yellow duck behind her.

"I love you, Rachel. We will talk in the morning." Shelby said, though she knew that it wouldn't wait until the morning. She needed a few more minutes to get her thoughts straight, so she was going to pick up the mess she had made while looking for her hidden toolbox and then go downstairs and pick up Rachel's bags that had been laid down at the base of the stairs.

As she worked, Shelby listened to her child sob in her room. She knew that it probably seemed cruel to Rachel, what she was making her do, but Rachel had been way out of line. Had Shelby knew that she was going to leave the Hummel's in the middle of the night, everything would have turned out differently. Shelby didn't make up rules just to hear herself talk. Shelby had created the 'call home' rule when Rachel was only eight or nine. That way Rachel would know that she could _always_ come home, but she had to call first so that Shelby could come and get her. Rachel hadn't done that this time, and it had ended badly for Rachel.

Shelby worked picking up the things that she had planned on picking up and then walked up the stairs to lean against the wall right before Rachel's room and listen to her for a few moments. She knew that Rachel was afraid. She hadn't known that was the reason she had come home, not at first because Rachel had masked her own fears with anger at her mother for being with Logan while she wanted her. Shelby wasn't born yesterday, she knew that Rachel had become jealous the moment that she had seen Logan in her bed. But her reactions, while in some ways were understandable, were still highly inappropriate. Shelby was the adult, not Rachel, and Shelby had to make Rachel realize that, else the little girl sobbing her eyes out in her room was going to continue to get into trouble that she could ill afford.

Shelby finally took a deep breath and walked into Rachel's room, grabbing Rachel's desk chair as she did, and settled beside Rachel's bed. Rachel turned over when she heard movement, and sobbed harder when she saw that chair.

Her mom was going to spank her on top of everything else?

Shelby knew what Rachel was thinking. Her daughter was an open book for her. She always had been.

"We need to talk. Sit up and look at me." Shelby told her sternly. Rachel pulled the end of her shirt up and wiped her eyes, cheeks, and nose on it, and slowly sat up, her legs dangling off the side of the bed.

"I am going to need you to look at me while we talk, Rachel." Shelby said, reaching out and lifting Rachel's face up.

"Rachel, I am disappointed in your actions tonight. I think that you momentarily forgot that you are fourteen years old and that I am not. Indeed, I think you forgot that I am the mother in this relationship and you obey my rules, not the other way around. Is that what happened, Rachel Barbra Corcoran?" Shelby asked sternly.

Rachel stared at her mother, but did not comment. What could she say? She knew she had been stupid. She knew that she had reacted badly. But Shelby was _her_ mom, and she had _needed_ her. She still needed her and she was going to make her sleep in her own room even though she was afraid.

"Rachel, I am asking you questions and I expect you to answer them. This is not a game, Rachel. The things that you said…Logan has done nothing to you, Rachel. I understand that you were upset, I understand that you didn't expect to see us in my room, asleep, but Rachel, I am allowed to have friends. I am allowed to go out on dates. I am allowed to have a life…"

"So you can forget about me and Beth! You were all shacked up with him here and you sent me and Beth off! How long til you are always sending us away all the time just so you and him can do whatever you want?" Rachel snapped, tears falling down her face.

"How can you even think that, Rachel? How can you think that I would ever forget about you or your sister? Nothing means more to me than the two of you. Nothing. I also seem to recall that it was you who asked if you could spend the night with Kurt." Shelby said, reaching up and firmly grabbing onto Rachel's chin to force her to look at her.

"How old are you, Rachel?" Shelby asked. She could feel Rachel swallow. Rachel was starting to understand, Shelby could see it in her eyes.

"Fourteen." Rachel whispered.

"Right. You are fourteen. What should you have done once you got into the house and seen that Logan and I were asleep?"

Rachel stared at her. What should she have done? She had no clue. What did one do when one found one's mother asleep by the guy she was dating?

"I don't know." Rachel said, confusion written all over her face.

Shelby sighed inwardly, because she knew what Rachel said was true. She didn't know what she should have done because she had never been faced with such a decision before. Shelby had gone on dates before, but rarely did she ever bring a man home with her. Even rarer still did she tell her daughters about it. Shelby wanted to make sure that a man had the possibilities of staying around before she introduced him to Rachel and Beth.

"You should have woke me up. You should not have screamed and cursed. You should not have slammed doors and locked yourself in the bedroom. You most definitely should not have screamed and yelled at me."

"I wanted you to leave me alone." Rachel cried. Her mother still had not let go of her chin yet, so she reached around it and wiped her eyes with her hand.

"And you should have known that I was not going to do that. Do you know why I told you that you have to sleep in your own bed tonight? Despite the fact that you wanted to sleep with me?"

Rachel let out a sob. Her mom still wasn't going to let her sleep with her?

"Because I made you mad." Rachel said quietly, closing her eyes, tears falling out of her eyes as she did so.

Shelby let out a light laugh. Her daughter still saw everything in white and black. Good and bad. She was still a child with child thoughts and solutions.

"No. I have never kept you out of my bed before no matter what I was feeling, Rachel. I did it tonight to teach you a lesson. You wanted to play pretend adult tonight and act like you had the right to yell at me and lock yourself in the bathroom, so I was going to let you go to bed by yourself."

Rachel looked at Shelby. She sniffed.

"So you're not going to make me sleep by myself?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"Did you learn anything tonight, Rachel?" Shelby asked, ignoring the question. Rachel nodded.

"A nod is not going to be enough. Talk to me, Rach."

Rachel swallowed again.

"I should have called you before I came home."

"True, but that, honestly, Rach, was not a big deal. You can always come home. Always. Twenty years from now you can come home in the middle of the night if you need me…without calling. But I do like to know when you are on the road. I need to know, because what if something had happened? I just need to know these things, Rach. What else?"

"I shouldn't have yelled at you because Logan was in your bed."

"No, you shouldn't have. You should have calmly shook me awake. Next."

"I probably shouldn't have locked myself in the bathroom and screamed at you. I should have watched what I said to you even though I was angry." Rachel whispered.

"You most definitely should not have done any of that. Rachel, you are only fourteen. I am the adult. You are my kid. You don't get to make rules, Rachel. You don't get to lock yourself away and ignore me when I am talking to you. That is not okay."

"Why do I have to sleep by myself?" Rachel said, more tears slipping down and pooling in Shelby hand.

"I made you lie in your bed because you needed to learn a lesson. You acted like you were the one who made the rules tonight. You acted like you were the adult in this house. Since you thought that you could do whatever you wanted, I was going to let you have a little bit of time to calm your own fears in your own bed since you obviously decided that you did not need me tonight when you locked me out."

Realization hit Rachel like a train.

She had locked her mom out and had planned on keeping her looked out all night. So her mom had, in her own way, locked her out for twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes that had really hurt Rachel's feelings.

Shelby knew that Rachel was making the connections now.

"Mommy, I am so sorry." Rachel said, and fell into her mother's arms.

Shelby held her for a few seconds before she pushed her back and looked her in the eye.

"I need you to tell me why you needed me so much, Rach. Obviously something happened at Kurt's." Shelby said.

Rachel looked up at her, her caramel eyes full of distress, a faraway look in her eyes that told Shelby she was going back to another moment. Another thought.

"I was so afraid. I keep looking over my shoulder for him. I closed my eyes, and I relive the feeling of fear I felt last week. I needed you."

Shelby pulled Rachel back towards her. Twice, her daughter had met Leroy Berry. Twice. And now her daughter was terrified because she didn't understand the fear he made her feel. If there was a third time, Shelby might murder the man.

"Come on, let's go lie down." Shelby said, letting go of Rachel and pulling her up, guiding her to room. Rachel sat on the side of the bed and Shelby went into her bathroom, wetting a washcloth with warm water and then walking to her dresser to pull out a clean shirt since she had watched Rachel wipe her face and nose on the shirt she was currently wearing several times.

Shelby wiped her face off gently and then pulled her shirt over her head and then gave her the fresh one. Rachel slipped it over her head and laid down in the bed. Soon, Shelby laid beside her. Rachel slipped her hand to Shelby's stomach and held onto the tank top her mother was wearing as she snuggled close to her.

"I am sorry, Mama." Rachel said as she slipped into sleep.

"I know, love. I know." Shelby held Rachel close and thought about everything that had just happened. It was close to two in the morning. But sleep evaded her.

Hopefully, though, Rachel realized the lesson that Shelby had just tried to teach her. She really, really hoped that Rachel had learned from it.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel had been quiet throughout the rest of the week. On Thursday, Quinn, Kurt, Santana, and Brittney came home with her after Glee and they were just hanging out. Jesse hadn't come with them because his mom was taking him to the dentist.

Shelby had, at first, not wanted to allow the kids to all come over to her house because, while she had not grounded Rachel for the past Saturday, she had still not let her do anything extra all week. But, after being asked by Kurt and Quinn at school, and surprisingly, Santana, she had finally given in and told them that they could stay from after school until eight. She would order take out (because there was no way in hell she was cooking food for all those kids) and she had decided that she would invite Logan over as well. Beth was spending the night at Will and Terri's for the first time, and the little girl had been very excited. Shelby had picked her up from school while the other kids were in Glee and took her over to the Shuester's where Terri and Wilde were.

Beth had been very excited that she was going to get to spend the whole night and next day with 'Aunt Terri' and Wilde. Terri had taken off the next day for the occasion, and she and the girls were going to go to the park and maybe a movie.

Once she had picked up the big kids and got them to the house, she had headed upstairs to have thirty minutes or so of down time. The kids had talked nonstop all the way home, and Shelby just needed a break after the long week. She was glad that the kids had school off the next day. It would be an easy break.

"Mom?" Rachel said from the doorway. Shelby looked up from where she was lying on the side of the bed and sat up.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked. She didn't move into the room, she just watched.

"Yes, I am just getting some quiet time, Love. Go on down with your friends, and I will be down to order some take out soon. You guys need to decide what you want so I can go pick it up."

Rachel nodded and left the room.

Shelby sat there for another ten minutes and nearly fell asleep when she realized that if she didn't get up and moving, that she was going to fall out. She finally stood up and headed down the stairs.

Quinn, Kurt, and Rachel were sitting on the couch talking about the movie they were watching, something that one of the other kids had brought with them because Shelby didn't recognize it.

Santana and Brittney were sitting together on the love seat, kissing. They hadn't even noticed that Shelby was in the room.

Shelby walked over to the love seat and stood behind it. The other three kids were trying not to laugh as the latina and blonde continued their mini make out session without ever realizing that Shelby was behind them.

Shelby placed a hand on both girls' shoulders, and they looked up, shocked for a moment before they sprung apart.

"Santana, over to the recliner. Brittney, stay here. I don't want either of you sitting together while I am gone. Understand?" Shelby said, one eyebrow raised.

They both nodded mutely, and Santana stood up and moved to the recliner.

"You guys could have warned us." Santana muttered to the laughing trio on the couch. She sat on the recliner with a pout and her arms crossed.

Shelby placed her arms on her hips.

"Can I trust you to obey me, Miss Lopez, or do I need to take you with me while I get supper?" Shelby said, eyeing the girl carefully so that she would get the double warning. She had disobeyed Ms. Corcoran two weeks previously, but she knew better than to do so now.

"I will obey you." The girl said, defeated. Shelby nodded, "Good, because I will know if you don't."

Shelby looked at Rachel, "If Logan gets here before I get back, let him in the house. What do you guys want for supper?"

Rachel nodded and then there were five voices of "Chinese" ringing through the living room. Shelby smiled and nodded, and then went to grab her coat, as it was getting rather cold out, and her keys and purse.

"Behave while I am gone. If there is any mess, all five of you will regret it." She said on her way out.

She did not want to come back to another flour/powder fight…something told her that if she did, it would be worse because there were five children instead of two. She didn't wait for them to answer, but closed the door and headed to her car.

Inside the house, Rachel was pouting. Quinn looked over at Rachel and smirked.

"What is wrong with you?" the girl finally asked her friend. All of the kids looked at Rachel expectantly.

"It is Logan! He is here all the time. Mom spends time with him and less time with Beth and I, AND last Saturday, when Finn and Kurt dropped me off, I walked in on them in bed together!"

The kids all looked at Rachel with their mouths opened.

"You mean…like they were having…_sex_?" Brittney whispered the question they all wanted to know the answer too.

Rachel scrunched her face into a grimace.

"Ewww. No. They had fallen asleep while watching a movie. But still! I mean, mom was all high and mighty when I had Puck over here and Aunt Judy caught us, but then she turns around and does virtually the same thing with this man she barely knows? At least I knew Puck…Sorry Quinnie." Rachel finished, feeling like she still owed Quinn an apology for inviting her ex boyfriend over as payback for that slushie.

"I am so over that, Rach. What did Aunt Shel do?" Quinn asked. She had not heard this story, though she suspected that was the story that her mom had spent over an hour on the phone talking about with Aunt Shel on Sunday afternoon.

"Um, she just yelled at me a lot." Rachel gave the condensed version.

"She yelled at you for walking in on them?" Santana asked.

"No. I yelled at her first. She didn't ground me or anything though. I locked myself in the bathroom and she and Logan took the knob off, and then he left and mom yelled and lectured and stuff."

"So this Logan guy…" Santana asked.

"My Mom can do what she wants, then I totally think that I should be able to do what I want, which is why I am inviting Jesse over tomorrow while Mom is at work. We should get to spend time together alone, without my mom hovering. She hovers all the time. It is annoying." Rachel ranted, not even realizing that her stories contradicted one another. Her mother spent all of her time with Logan, yet she hovered all the time. They didn't really add up. The doorbell rang when she finished, and she stood up, knowing that it was Logan. She sighed.

The other four kids looked at one another.

"She better hope Ms. C doesn't find out about her letting Jesse over here." Santana whispered.

"Yea." Kurt said, thinking about Auntie Shel and Logan. Kurt knew better than any of them how hard it was to accept another parental figure into an already perfectly working family. Part of him wanted to tell Logan to leave them all alone as well.

But, another part of him was getting really close to Carole at home, and he was glad that she was there. She tried to understand him all the time, and not everyone did.

"Everyone, this is Logan. Logan this is…everyone. You can sit there." Rachel said, pointing at a chair that just so happened to be directly in front of all of them.

Logan swallowed and sat down. He had a very uneasy feeling about this. He had known that Shelby had run to get supper, but he had thought she might be back by now.

"We need to speak with you, Logan." Rachel said, sitting directly in front of Logan, between Quinn and Kurt.

Logan swallowed, but nodded.

"We have a deal for you." Rachel said slowly. She had left the man alone since the first day, only talking to him when she had too, but now the time had come.

"Okay…" he said uncertainly. He really had no idea what Rachel was talking about, but he would go with it for now.

"Quinn and Santana," she pointed to the two girls, "really want tattoos. You, are going to give them to them. In return, I will not tell my mom that you are the one who gave me my tattoo. Since you have kept that little fact hidden from her, I am sure that she would love to know."

"I can't do that!" Logan said. He couldn't give anymore underage kids tattoos! He could lose his license!

Rachel smirked, and leaned forward in her seat.

"Oh, but you will. Or, I will tell mom. And look, there she is now." Rachel said as Shelby walked unlocked the door and walked back into the house, her arms laden with food, sneaking a look into the living room to make sure that Brittney and Santana were both sitting apart like she had told them.

"Mom!" Rachel said, ready to tell her mother everything if Logan didn't quickly agree.

"Fine! Fine! I will do it." He said, then nodded his head to the other kids.

"Okay then. Looks like Mom needs some help." Rachel said. Logan quickly left the kids to their own devices and followed Shelby into the kitchen. Rachel felt quite proud of herself.

"Come on, kids. Let's eat." Shelby said from the kitchen. The kids all got up and headed into the kitchen, but Brittney grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her back.

"Sanny, I don't think you should get a tattoo without talking to your mom. Think of how disappointed she will be…"

Santana looked at Brittney and nodded then shook her head.

"No, it will be okay. Come on. Let's go eat." Santana said, despite the now nagging feeling in her head.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby pulled her jacket on and looked at Rachel who was sitting at the table eating her breakfast that Shelby had made her. Rachel was staying at home because she had a project that she was working on and hadn't wanted to go to any of her friends' houses. After all the kids minus Rachel had been taken home the night before, Rachel had been oddly quiet and had even went to bed early. Shelby didn't know what all that was about, but she let it go. It had been the first night in nearly two weeks that Rachel had not ended up in her bed.

"Are you sure that you are okay here by yourself?" Shelby asked one more time before she walked out the door.

"Yea, I am just going to work on my history project. You will be home by three, right?" Rachel clarified.

"Yes. I will come and pick you up before I go get Beth so that you can go."

"Okay. Sounds good."

"I also fixed you some lunch and put it in the fridge. Leave the doors locked. If you need anything, call me." Shelby said, walking over and kissing Rachel's head.

"Okay. Love you, Mom."

"Love you, too, baby. I will see you this afternoon."

Shelby walked out of the house and got into her car, driving towards the school.

Inside the house, Rachel hurriedly got ready, putting on jeans and a tight, long-sleeved t-shirt. She put on a little bit of makeup and brushed her hair until it was straight and shiny.

She was just finishing up when the doorbell rang. She rushed down the stairs and looked out the window to make sure that it was Jesse, and then swung the door open with a grin.

"Hey Jesse!"

"Hey!" He said, just as excited as she was. He had been looking forward to spending the day with her all week.

"I pulled out some movies, we can watch if you want." Rachel said, trying to get over the first awkward moments.

Jesse nodded, "Okay. I'd love that."

For the next two hours, the two teenagers sat and watched a movie, the two of the cuddled together. Towards the end, Rachel looked up at Jesse to say something and Jesse kissed her. It was a passionate kiss, as passionate as a fourteen and fifteen year old could be, and when they separated, Jesse said, "I have been wanting to do that since I got here."

Rachel smiled.

"Do you want to go up to my room? I can't have sex with you, Jesse, but…we could do other things. I could show you my tattoo…"

Jesse merely nodded. He wanted to do things with Rachel Corcoran. He wasn't ready for sex either, but he was always up for other things.

Rachel led Jesse up to her room, and they walked through the doorless entry. She sat on her bed and patted the seat beside her.

Jesse walked over and sat down with her.

"Are you sure about this, Rach?" Jesse asked, his nerves starting to get the best of him.

"Yea. It isn't like we are having sex. We are just…checking each other out. Exploring." Rachel said just as she pulled her shirt over her head and threw it on the floor. He gaped at her lacy red bra and smiled awkwardly.

"I do want to see this tattoo that you have told me so much about." Jesse told her, standing her up in front of him. Rachel took several steps back as she watched him take his own shirt off.

"How about I take something off, and then you take something off." Rachel said.

Jesse swallowed and then nodded.

Rachel slid her jeans down her hips and off her feet and threw them into the pile where her shirt was at.

Jesse kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned his own jeans.

Rachel Corcoran was standing in front of him in nothing but a matching, red, lacy bra and panty set.

She was hot. Jesse swallowed again when Rachel's bra was added to the pile.

Rachel would be lying if she said that she was not nervous. She wanted to cover herself up. She wanted to forget that the only person who ever really saw her naked was her mom.

Jesse's jeans were added to his pile of clothes and he was left sitting on the bed in his boxers.

"You want to see my tattoo now?" Rachel asked.

Jesse merely nodded.

Rachel stepped closer and took a deep breath, in one swoop had her lacy panties added to the pile of her clothes.

Jesse swallowed again when Rachel stepped up to him and sat on his lap. He had a naked girl, his naked girl, in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her protectively, and then laid her on the bed.

It thundered overhead, and Rachel shivered. She hated thunder.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asked as he moved to her side.

She nodded and then looked up into his eyes.

"I hate thunder." She whispered, a tiny glint of fear in her eyes. She moved her hands and started to go down the front of his boxers…Quinn had said that was what she did, so it had to be the next step. But Jesse stopped her.

"Ladies first, Rachel, always."

Rachel swallowed and smiled.

She took his left hand and moved it to her hip and turned to her side.

"This is my tattoo." She said, guiding his hand over her body art.

Jesse studied it intensely. It was a good piece of art.

"I really like it." He said, and bent down to kiss her his. He took in Rachel's body and took a deep breath to attempt to get a hold of himself.

Thunder clapped loudly and lightening struck, Rachel jumped into Jesse's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck, her chest pressed against his, and then she felt something odd. She looked around, towards the door, and what she saw in another strike of lightening made her heart sink to the floor.

Shelby.

Shelby looked at her daughter, disappointment rising in her throat.

"Oh Rachel." Shelby said, shaking her head. She turned and walked out of the room, into her room, and shut the door behind her.

Jesse and Rachel looked at each other, eyes wide. They both jumped up and started reaching for their clothes.

All the while, Rachel was very, very confused.

She turned to Jesse as they both got dressed.

"I will walk you to the door." Rachel said once they were both dressed. Jesse nodded. He felt horrible. They hadn't done anything, but he was possible that it didn't matter to Ms. Corcoran.

They started walking down the stairs when Shelby's door opened up.

"Rachel." Shelby said. It was firm. Absolute.

Lightening struck again. Rachel felt two different kinds of fear travel down her spine.

She walked up to her mother and stood in front of her.

"Please not now, Mama. Please. Not in front of Jesse." Rachel begged in a whisper. Shelby just stared at her.

"What, exactly, do you not want me to do?"

Rachel cringed.

She leaned up and whispered, "Please don't spank me, Mama. Please. Not while he is here."

"Go downstairs, Rachel." Shelby looked towards the boy on her staircase.

"Jesse, I will be taking you home. I am not going to allow you to walk home in a storm."

"Y-y-y-yes, Ms. Corcoran." The boy stuttered. Rachel walked down the steps and together the two went to put their jackets on. Rachel also pulled on a pair of shoes that were close to the door.

They watched apprehensively as Shelby came down the stairs and grabbed her keys off the table. She still had her jacket on. She had never taken it off.

"Why are you home, Mama?" Rachel asked quietly.

Shelby shot her a look. It sent fear down Rachel's spine and made her think that perhaps she should not have asked her mother that.

"The electricity went off at the school. Let's go."

They walked towards the garage and Shelby got in, slamming the door as she did. Jesse climbed into the back, but Rachel knew better, and climbed into the front. Lightening struck again. Rachel really hated storms. But she didn't know if she could grab a hold of her mom's hand right now. Her mom was…was acting weird.

They stopped in front of Jesse's house and looked at him.

"I expect you to tell your parents what you did today. Please tell them that I will call them later tonight."

"Yes ma'am." The boy said, shamefaced, and got out of the car, running to the front door.

Shelby said nothing else. They road in the car until they pulled into the Fabray's driveway where Shelby turned the car off and just sat there. Rachel didn't know what to do.

Shelby stared out the front of the window and didn't look at Rachel.

"Did you have sex with him before I got home?"

Rachel looked over at her mother and stifled a sob.

"No." She whispered.

"Okay. When we get in there, I want you to go directly to your room. Do not disobey me on this. Let's go."

Rachel climbed out of the car and into the rain. She ran to the front door and knocked once before letting herself in. She didn't say hello to Aunt Judy, who was walking towards the door. She just gave her a sad, hurt look, and walked up the stairs. She didn't say hi to Quinn, whose door was open.

Rachel merely went into her room at the Fabray's and threw herself on the bed and cried.

What had she done?

* * *

**AN: Oh Rachel...what _have_ you done?**

** So, this chapter almost wrote itself. I thought that I wouldn't have it out until this weekend sometime. This chapter is a lot longer than I expected it to be. So much is happening in these chapters now, and will for a few more chapters until things calm down a little...that will happen eventually. **

**Let me know what you think:)**


	24. What Have I Done?

**Chapter Twenty-Four: What Have I Done?**

Judy knew the minute that Rachel walked into her house that something was not right. She could tell that the girl was holding back tears, and then she didn't say anything, not even a hello, before she walked up the stairs.

Judy had started to follow her until she caught sight of Shelby walking in. Judy had never seen Shelby look the way she looked at that moment. She walked into the house and shut the door behind her in a way that screamed fatigue and hurt and pain. Judy watched tentatively as Shelby took off her jacket and set it on the bench that Judy kept by the front door. Not until Shelby looked at Judy did anything happen.

Shelby burst into tears. They were silent, so as not to be heard, but Judy could see the pain in her every move.

Judy rushed to the younger woman and threw her arms around her, cradling her head in her hands.

"Come with me, Shel." Judy said quietly, and guided her into Russ's office so that they could have some privacy.

For the next ten minutes, Judy had no idea what was going on except that it had something to do with Rachel and Jesse St. James. Shelby was still crying, and Judy was still holding her as they sat together on the couch that was in the office close to the fireplace.

Judy had never seen Shelby like this. The woman was undoubtedly strong and rarely cried.

"Shel, please tell me what is wrong. I can't help you if you don't let me in." Judy said softly, rubbing Shelby's back as the woman cried into her hands.

Shelby looked up into Judy's eyes and saw the concern in them.

"I am so sorry, Judy." She cried.

"Honey, you have nothing to be sorry about. I just want to help you."

Shelby swallowed and leaned her elbows on her knees and placed her head again in her hands.

"I came home early because the lights went out at school and Rachel is afraid of thunderstorms as you know. I knew that she would need me. When I got home, I called out her name, but she didn't answer, I figured that she was in her room or mine hiding under blankets. I went to her room first and she was in there," Shelby let out a sob.

"What was she doing?"

Shelby sniffed and looked over at Judy.

"She and Jesse St. James were in there naked. I watched as lightening struck outside and my naked, fourteen year old daughter jumped into a boy's lap. They were in there doing who knows what. They were naked, Judy. St. James might have had his boxer shorts on, but all I could focus on was my naked kid. I have seen her in that state a million times before, but never have I had to see it like that. I am so disappointed in her. I am ashamed. I am pissed and angry. There are so many feelings going through me right now that I don't know which to let out. I knew that I had to talk to someone. I knew that I could not be alone with her at the house right now. I am just too angry about everything."

Judy was shocked in more ways than one. Rachel had only weeks ago gotten into trouble for having Puckerman over and they had been only kissing. But she had been naked with this new boy. Judy didn't blame Shelby for her anger.

"Did you say anything to her?" Judy finally asked.

"She asked me why I was home, and I told her the electricity went out. I told her to go up to her room when we got here and to not even think about coming out. I asked her if they had sex before I caught them."

"Her answer?"

"She said no. I believe her, but for some reason it did not quell my anger or disappointment. I don't know what to do to her. I don't know how to punish her for this. She knows that I am upset. She could barely look at me. I am just so damn angry, Judy. How do you punish a kid for being naked in her bedroom with a boy?"

"You don't." Judy said.

Shelby looked at Judy like she was insane and Judy laughed while she hugged the woman and held her close.

"Sometimes, Shelby, the best punishment is no punishment at all."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Quinn opened Rachel's door and walked in the minute she heard her friend sobbing. Quinn walked over to the bed and crawled up to sit by the headboard, Rachel's head near her lap.

"What happened?" Quinn asked.

"Mom caught Jesse and me." Rachel sobbed.

Quinn wrinkled her brow. She had known that Jesse was coming over without permission, but Aunt Shel usually wasn't very mad about that. Quinn knew that Rachel wasn't supposed to have anyone over, especially not Jesse without permission, so she might have gotten into a bit of trouble for it, but that was no reason for the tears that Rachel had pouring down her face.

"Why are you so upset about that?"

Rachel looked up at Quinn with her tear stained face, "We were naked and I was sitting in his lap! Or, I was naked. He had on his boxers and hadn't taken them off yet." Rachel sobbed, putting her head back on the bed.

"Oh Rachel." Quinn said quietly. That made Rachel sob harder.

"That was what my mom said when she saw me. She is so upset with me. She won't talk to me. The only thing she has asked me was if I had sex with him before she caught us." Rachel's shoulders hitched up and down in time with her sobs.

"Did you?" Quinn asked, seriously hoping that her friend's answer was no.

"No! We were only going to do the things you did. The things that you and I talked about." Rachel cried.

"Did you talk to Aunt Shel about all of that? Before all of this happened?" Quinn questioned, gently moving some of Rachel's hair behind her ear.

"No."

"Why, Rach? You promised me when we talked about that stuff that you were going to talk to Aunt Shel before you and Jesse did anything. You should have talked to her." Quinn admonished. Rachel might be her best friend, they might be as close as sisters, but Quinn knew that in many ways she was like the older sister. Sometimes they were not equal in maturity. Rachel could be mature in some matters, but in life and social skills she was behind Quinn. She danced to the beat of her own drum until she realized that she was in her own world where her rules were her own. The only problem was that that did not always work. This was one such case.

"You should have talked to her, Rach."

Rachel sobbed.

"I know! I was angry at her. I was angry about catching her and Logan in bed together and I felt like if she could do it, then so could I!" Rachel said.

Quinn shook her head.

"No, Rach. I am pretty sure that it doesn't work that way. I mean, Aunt Shel is an adult…and she also wasn't naked. They fell asleep…"

"I know! Now Mom is mad at me and she…"

There was a knock at the door and both girls looked up as the door opened and Judy walked in.

"Quinn, please step out. I need to speak with Rachel."

Quinn nodded and climbed off the bed so that she could leave the room. Quinn stopped beside Judy and acted as if she was going to say something, but Judy shook her head so that Quinn would just leave the room.

Quinn walked down the stairs and looked for Aunt Shel who she knew was around. She looked at the open door of the office, which was hardly ever open, and saw her sitting on the couch.

Quinn walked in and sat beside the woman. Shelby was no longer crying, but Quinn could tell that she had been.

"Aunt Shel…"

"Quinnie…now is not really the time…" Shelby started.

"Please let me tell you, Aunt Shel. It is all my fault." Quinn said as her voice quivered. Shelby looked up at her.

"What is your fault, Quinn?" Shelby said, clearly confused.

Quinn cleared her voice.

"She was trying to do everything that I had done with Puck…so that we could be even. You know how she thinks sometimes, Aunt Shel. But, I made her promise to talk to you before she did anything, but then she got mad at you. I am so sorry, Aunt Shel." Quinn whispered. Shelby looked at her.

"What do you mean she wanted to be even with you?" Shelby asked.

Quinn looked at her for a few moments before she answered.

"Puck and I did a lot of stuff before we broke up. We never had sex, but he was kind of mad at me when I told him I was ready and then changed my mind. Last week Rachel wanted to know everything that I had done with him because she said that way she would know what to do before she was ready to have sex."

"You did a lot with Noah Puckerman?" Shelby asked.

"A fair bit. Mom and I talked about it and it made me realize that I wasn't ready for even the things that I did do. That is why I made Rachel promise that she would talk to you. I thought she would, but…"

Shelby nodded her head.

"That was the week she was mad at me about Logan." Shelby sighed.

Quinn nodded.

"Quinn, none of this is your fault. Do you understand me? Rachel is responsible for her own choices and decisions. This time she made a bad one."

"But, Aunt Shel, Rachel is like my little sister. Even though we are the same age, I know that sometimes she still looks to me for guidance. I feel like we both keep messing up majorly this year. Nothing we do is right. I should have told someone that she was having those thoughts. I should have at least told Mom so that she could have told you."

Shelby cupped Quinn's face in her hands.

"Quinnie, you are a good friend. And, yes, you are a sister, often a big sister, to Rachel. But none of this is your fault. I don't expect you to tell me the things that Rachel tells you. Mainly because most of the time the two of you are in cahoots together. Rachel and I will get through this. I hate that she was trying to be 'even' with you, I hate that you have done those things just as much as I hate that she has done them. You are both still children. Stop trying to grow up so quickly." She let Quinn's face go and she sighed. She had known that Quinn and Judy had been talking more about sex, but she had not realized that Quinn had been engaging in such risky behavior. And Rachel was doing the same thing to get even with her mother and her best friend.

Shelby wanted to shake her daughter.

"I am really sorry, Aunt Shel."

"Stop, Quinn. None of this is your fault. Rachel made her own decisions. She is to blame for her own actions, and you do not have to be sorry for things in your past that you have already talked to your mom about. You know that." Shelby said quietly.

Quinn nodded sadly and stood up. She gave Shelby a quick hug, but then quickly left the office because she didn't have anything else to say and, honestly, she was sort of confused about the whole thing anyways.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby walked into the room that was Rachel's and watched as Judy Fabray sat in a chair that was in the room, watching Rachel. Shelby could tell that Rachel had been crying, but at the same time she could tell that Judy had not comforted the girl in any way. Comforting would come later.

"Come on, Rachel. It is time to go home." Shelby told her, then turned to Judy.

"Thank you, Judy. I will see you at Will's Monday afternoon for supper?"

"We will all be there." Judy said.

"Rachel. Now." Shelby said when she realized that the young girl was not in any hurry to get off of her bed.

Shelby turned around and walked out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the house. She was buckling her seatbelt up when Rachel finally came out of the house and climbed into the front seat. Rachel didn't buckle her seatbelt, and Shelby gritted her teeth. She slowly started backing out of the driveway, expecting Rachel to buckle up, but the girl was being oblivious to the looks her mother was sending her.

Shelby gently slammed on the breaks when she was almost about to back out into the street and with an irritated sigh reached over Rachel and grabbed the seatbelt, pulling it over her daughter and buckling it.

Rachel was really not helping her case right now. Not. At. All.

Rachel's eyes grew big. She hadn't even realized that she hadn't put her seatbelt on. Her thoughts were too far away.

They were both silent for the first five minutes of the fifteen minute ride when Rachel finally looked over at Shelby and asked, "What is my punishment?"

It was a whisper, and it sent anger running through Shelby's being. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

Shelby refused to even glance over at her daughter.

"Nothing."

"What?" Rachel asked, confused.

"You're not being punished." Shelby said.

Rachel sat back. If she wasn't in trouble, why was her mom acting so weird?

"O..okay." Rachel said, and sat back in her seat for the rest of the way home.

Once Shelby got to the house, she didn't pull into the driveway like she normally did, but in front of the house.

"I am going to get Beth." Shelby said as Rachel climbed out. Rachel looked up at her, confused.

"I thought I was going with you?"

"No. I am taking Beth out to supper. We will be home about six thirty."

"What am I supposed to do?" Rachel asked, a little weary.

Shelby finally looked over at her for the first time since she had buckled her seatbelt at the Fabray's.

"You are a big girl. You will figure it out. Now go on into the house." Shelby told her sternly. She watched as Rachel's eyes widened, but the girl did as she was told and mutely closed the door and headed towards the front door, her body slouched in confusion. What was going on?

In the car, Shelby watched as Rachel went into the house, only looking back towards her mother once. When she watched the front door close, Shelby drove off, and then stopped about two blocks away.

And she burst into sobs for the second time that day.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby knocked on the front door of the St. James house and waited. It didn't take long for a tall, slender woman with black hair that stopped at her shoulders to answer the door. She would have known that this was Jesse's mother anywhere. Their eyes were identical, as was the shape of their noses.

"May I help you?" the woman asked.

"Hello, I am Shelby Corcoran. My daughter is Rachel Corcoran…"

The woman gasped and then closed her eyes.

Shelby sighed.

"I take it that Jesse told you what happened?" Shelby said, hopefully. She did not want to be the one to tell Jesse's parents that he had been nearly naked at her house with her naked daughter.

"I am so sorry, Ms. Corcoran. Jesse told us what happened and that you might be by. I am Jeslyn St. James. My husband, Decland, is in his study. We just sent Jesse to his room. He is grounded for the next three months. I had no idea that you were not home when I dropped Jesse off this morning, or I never would have left him there."

Shelby breathed a sigh of relief at not having to break the news and that Jesse's parents were not placing all the blame on Rachel. As angry as Shelby was at Rachel, both children were at fault.

"If you would come in, Decland and I would like to talk to you in the study. Jesse said that you were not happy with them. He told me that he was going to walk home. Thank you for not allowing that. I would have come over and got him, but I understand that you probably needed time to cool down. I know had I walked in on that scene, I would have needed to separate myself from the children as well." Jeslyn said taking Shelby into her husband's study where the man looked up and then stood up the moment he saw that they had a visitor.

"Hello, I am Shelby Corcoran." Shelby said and extended her hand to shake the man's, who looked identical to Jesse, except a taller version with blue eyes and a narrow nose.

"I am Decland. Please, have a seat." He said, taking her hand and then pointing her towards a seat near her. Shelby sat down. She felt like she had been running marathons today.

"Ms. Corcoran…"

"Please, call me Shelby. After all, it is obvious that our children are infatuated with one another." Shelby said with a tight laugh that both St. James' caught onto for what it was.

"And please call us Decland and Jeslyn. Shelby, we are so sorry that this happened. I really take full…" Jeslyn started.

Shelby held her hand up.

"I did not come here to place blame on either of you, or myself for that matter. Jesse and Rachel are to blame for this. I am not going to tell Rachel that she cannot be friends with Jesse. I think that he is good for her. They both have the same big dreams. I just need to know that when they are over here that they will not be able to do what they were going to do in my house this afternoon. I have an open door policy…of course right now, Rachel does not have a door. Right now, Rachel is being punished in a way she doesn't quite understand. In a few weeks though, she is going to want to spend time with Jesse, and I think I would feel more comfortable, and I think that both of you would feel more comfortable, if we, as their parents, always know where they were. I was not…prepared…to see my naked daughter sitting on top of your mostly naked son. Not prepared at all." Shelby said, shaking her head as if to get the image out of her head.

"Oh Shelby, we agree with you. We would like to know what they are doing together as well. They are so young, and I realize that they were not planning on have sex, but that does not mean that it could not have happened. They are young and naïve. It is our responsibility to watch and educate them." Decland said and Jeslyn nodded her agreement.

Shelby let out a sigh of relief.

"I really appreciate the fact that you are both being so understanding. I speak with my students' parents all the time, and they are not always so understanding. This is just different. She is my baby, and today I was shocked…"

Jeslyn placed her hand over Shelby's and the two mothers looked into one another's eyes.

"We understand. We were shocked when Jesse told us what he did. He was upset, but so were we. They are our babies. But they are infatuated with one another, and they do both have a lot in common. I promise, Shelby, that if she is over here, we will watch her just like I know that you will watch Jesse."

Shelby smiled.

"Thank you. That makes me feel better. Rachel is going to be punished…but I am not going to dictate who her friends are. She is not allowed to date seriously until she is sixteen, but I know that she and Jesse get along really well…but I would really appreciate not being a grandmother before I am at least forty-five or fifty."

Jeslyn and Decland laughed.

"We agree with that, one hundred percent." Decland said, his head shaking at the fact that his son had had the gall to do what he had done at the Corcoran home.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

It was Saturday night and Rachel had stayed in her room practically all day. Shelby wasn't talking to her and Beth kept asking her what she did. It had stormed off and on the night before, keeping Rachel awake practically all night.

By the time she went down to breakfast, Beth was eating pancakes and her normal three eggs. Shelby was eating pancakes and drinking coffee while she looked over the morning paper. There was no food for Rachel.

"Did you save me any?" Rachel asked her mom.

Shelby never looked up from the paper.

"There is cereal or you can make your own. It is whatever you want."

Rachel just stared at her mom. She thought that her mom wasn't mad any more. She wasn't being punished, so her mom had forgiven her. So why was she being so mean?

Rachel nodded and went to the fridge. Her lunch from the day before was still sitting in the fridge, and it made Rachel stifle a sob that desperately wanted to come out in all of this confusion.

Rachel shut the door and went back up to her room. She hadn't left the rest of the day. She had listened to her iPod. She had played on her laptop. She had tried to do her school work. She had nearly driven herself crazy.

Finally, Rachel decided to go to bed. She didn't bother going down to eat supper because if everything went as it had been, her mom was going to make her cook her own supper. The only thing Rachel could cook without burning it to a crisp was toast and macaroni and cheese, neither of which she wanted.

She could smell her mom cooking, too. It smelled like lasagna. Rachel loved lasagna. She didn't go downstairs though and neither her mom nor Beth came upstairs to get her for supper.

Sunday was much the same except that she had gone downstairs before her Mom or Beth had gotten up and grabbed some fruit and a box of cereal, along with bottles of water. No matter how much Rachel tried to sleep, she couldn't. The few hours that she finally managed to get Monday morning left her irritable as she got ready for school.

Shelby watched as Rachel came down the stairs on Monday morning just as she was getting ready to walk out the door. Shelby had been prepared to leave Rachel if she wasn't downstairs in time, but she was glad that Rachel had been on time.

It killed her that she was being so purposely distant from her child. Her heart was literally breaking by the sight of her child. Rachel had bags under her eyes and she looked so tired. Her hair was pulled into a pony tail, something that Rachel never did. Shelby didn't say anything to her, but grabbed Beth's hand and then walked out the door. She could feel Rachel behind her. She could see Rachel climb into the car as she helped Beth climb in her booster seat.

Beth had been quiet all weekend too. She had asked questions Friday night, but she hadn't asked anything else. The little girl knew that something was up, but something told her not to ask any more questions. Her mommy and sister were both so upset and it kind of made her feel bad too.

Shelby dropped Beth off and then drove to the high school. Before Rachel got out of the car Shelby turned to her.

"Beth and I are eating at Will and Terri's tonight. If you want to go, you need to find a ride there after Glee. Otherwise, ask one of your friends' parents to take you home."

"Mom, I am fixing to start soon…if I counted right like you showed me…I am going to need stuff form the store." Rachel whispered, looking at the floor.

Shelby grabbed her purse and pulled out a ten dollar bill.

"Here. You can stop by a store somewhere and get some whenever you need them."

Shelby didn't wait for her to reply, but climbed out of the car. She had to remain strong. She had to not cry in front of Rachel, else everything would be for naught. She absolutely hated this.

Rachel climbed out of the car clutching the money in her hand and her backpack on her shoulder and was barely able to contain her tears. She jumped when her mom hit the lock button and the car honked once. She put her head down and headed into the school and straight to choir room.

Quinn was already in there.

Quinn jumped up from the seat she was sitting in and walked over to Rachel.

"Rach, what is wrong?' Quinn asked, concerned for her friend whom she had never seen quite so disheveled while out in public.

"I need a ride to Mr. Shue and Terri's tonight. Do you think that Aunt Judy will let me ride with you guys?"

"Of course…do you need a hug, Rach?" Quinn asked her friend. She knew that Rachel was emotional and she knew that the girl thrived off of physical contact from her family.

Rachel nodded.

And when Quinn wrapped her arms around her friend, Rachel burst into soul wrenching sobs that almost made Quinn cry right along with her.

* * *

**AN: Thoughts?**


	25. Lessons Learned

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Lessons Learned**

Rachel sat in behind Uncle Russ in the car. He was driving and Aunt Judy was in the passenger seat, both of them quiet as they all made their way to Will and Terri's. Quinn was behind Aunt Judy. Rachel felt horrible. She was tired and confused. She had nearly skipped her mother's class that afternoon, but then had thought better of it, only to discover that her mother had moved her and Jesse to opposite sides if the room.

Which was fine. Jesse had tried to talk to her at lunch, but Rachel had begged him to leave her alone, least her mother see them talking. She didn't want her mother to have another excuse not to talk to her. It was literally breaking her heart that her mother would not do anything for her or really talk to her about what had happened. Or…anything. Her mother had always been there for her. Her mother had always done everything that she needed her to do. She had always been there to talk to her.

But now…she had messed up. Her mom would barely even look at her and their discontent was messing with Beth.

None of it was fair.

Quinn reached her hand over and gave it a pat. Rachel looked over at her and gave her a sad smile. Quinn had noticed that even her mom was treating Rachel differently. Quinn didn't understand that because Quinn had done pretty much the same things and her mother had talked to her about it, not ostracized her like all the adults seemed to be doing to Rachel. Quinn felt slightly angry on her friend's behalf. It didn't seem fair to Quinn. Sure her mom hadn't caught her, but she had still done the exact same thing as Rachel had done Friday.

They arrived at the Shuester's and piled out of the car. Rachel left her backpack in the car, but grabbed her jacket and put it on, holding it tight around her. She felt the need to be held, and her jacket was her only choice right now.

Her mom was already there, so she wasn't surprised when Beth ran up to her and threw her arms around her. Rachel bent down and hugged her sister.

"I missed you, Sister." Beth whispered in her ear before she let go.

"Thank you, Sis. I love you." Rachel said as she stood up.

"Supper is almost ready!" Terri said, coming into the hallway from the kitchen, an apron on and a spoon in her hand. She was excited to be hosting supper at her house. She froze when she saw Rachel. Will had told her that the girl looked off today, and they had both been told, more or less, the punishment that Shelby was going with, but good grief the girl looked like shit. Terri knew that if Rachel or Shelby didn't end this ridiculousness soon, then she might have to overstep her boundaries. She also knew, though, that what Shelby was doing was working in its own way. But, still. That child looked like she had not slept in days. She probably hadn't since Shelby caught her with the St. James boy. Shelby didn't look any better, but Terri realized just how much it was affecting the both of them only when she saw them both in close proximity to one another.

"Rachel, would you come help me?" Terri asked. She waited until Rachel nodded and walked into the kitchen when she pointedly looked at the adults in the room…Quinn had taken that as her cue to take Beth and Wilde and go into Wilde's bedroom.

Terri suddenly didn't care that she was the newest addition to this growing, untraditional family.

She pointed her spoon at the adults in the room.

"I know that I am new to all this, but that little girl in my kitchen is falling apart, and you," she moved to point her spoon at Shelby and narrow her eyes, "are too. Someone better do something fast, else you are all going to lose. Now, someone please set my table!" Terri hissed.

She turned around and walked into her kitchen, swinging the door as she did.

The adults all looked at one another. Will knew how his wife got sometimes. He went to grab plates to set the table.

"She is right, you know. I can't let it go much further. I know that Rachel doesn't understand the point that I am trying to make, but she will understand it once we talk." Shelby said to Judy as she rested her weary head in her hands.

Judy nodded.

"I think Rachel is close, though, Shelby. Give her tonight, and then tomorrow do what needs to be done. You know Rachel, and you know it won't take her much longer to realize what you are doing." Judy advised. She could tell that neither mother nor daughter would last past the next day, but that Rachel was so close to coming to her mother.

"I think she is too, else I would have already given in. I think that I am going to take off tomorrow and keep her home from school." Shelby whispered, walking into the dining room and taking the plates away from Will while Judy took the silverware.

How was it that the youngest of the three adult women seemed to see right through their plans? Sure, Terri had known what Shelby was doing. She had talked to the younger woman on Friday when she picked up Beth, but still, she could tell that Rachel and Beth were both hurting so easily.

Shelby didn't know, but she did know that Terri was right.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"I am not really very good at cooking." Rachel said when Terri came back into the kitchen. Rachel was sitting on top of the counter, close to the sink and was watching Terri's every move. Rachel hadn't really spent loads of time with the woman, but she did know that she already liked her.

"I didn't ask you in here to cook, Rach. I thought maybe we could just hang out while I finished cooking. The food is almost finished. Do you want something to drink? I have a Dr. Pepper hidden in the back of the fridge that I will let you have if you don't tell anyone." Terri said, winking at her.

Rachel gave her first genuine smile since Friday afternoon.

"Yea, I would like that." Rachel said and watched Terri go to the fridge and pull out a Dr. Pepper that was hidden in the very back of the fridge. Terri knew the drink was Rachel's favorite. She had learned it randomly one day when she and Will had kept Beth. Beth had also informed her and Will that Shelby didn't let them have a lot of soda at home, especially Rachel, because she got too excited about everything if she had too much sugar.

Terri figured that Rachel needed a little bit of excitement right now.

Terri waited until Rachel took a long drink and then set the can down on the counter beside her.

"So, you want to talk about anything, Rach?" Terri asked as she looked into the oven where she had some bread cooking. She was making spaghetti. She had talked to Judy for a while because she knew that Rachel was picky, Quinn wouldn't always eat everything either, but Beth and Wilde would eat anything and everything in their own way which they had obviously gotten from Will, often making Rachel sick. To avoid conflict, Terri made spaghetti because there were no extras for the youngest two girls or Will to throw in it besides cheese and bread, and both Quinn and Rachel liked spaghetti. It was also easy to make for a large number of people.

Rachel was looking at her hands and then looked at Terri with tears in her eyes, but none actually falling.

"I really fucked up." Rachel whispered looking down at her hands again.

Terri's head shot up, the spoon that was still in her hand frozen inches above the pasta that was almost finished cooking. She set the spoon to the side of the pan and walked to stand in front of Rachel. She was, despite Rachel sitting on top of the counter, nearly eye level with the fourteen year old girl once she placed her hand under her chin and made her look at her.

"Rach, I know that I am new to all of this, and I know that you are not used to me yet, but that language is not okay. It isn't okay in front of anyone. You are a smart girl; there are other ways to express your feelings. Okay?"

Rachel nodded.

Terri let go of Rachel's chin and grasped her small hands in her own.

"Rach, I know that a lot has happened over the last two months. A lot has happened to us all, and I think that sometimes…sometimes, all of the adults in this situation forget that it is probably harder on you and Quinn than it is on everyone else. Beth and Wilde…they take things with a grain of salt. They accepted each other; they accepted Will and me and this entire family, without a second glance because they are young. They trust easily. You and Quinn are not at that stage in your life anymore, Rach. You are at an age where you want to test limits and boundaries. And that is okay, Rach. It is okay to test boundaries as long as you know that sometimes there will be consequences for testing them. It is okay to talk to your mom. To Judy. And Rach, you can talk to me now. I am realizing now that once Will and I accepted that Wilde was our family, and that everyone still needed to be included in her life, that we also accepted everyone into our lives. That means that Will and I will always be here for you, for everyone now. We are here to stay, Rach. You are a smart, beautiful, talented girl. You did make a mistake Friday. You messed up, Rach. But you can fix this. I promise." Terri told the downtrodden girl in front of her. Tears splashed from Rachel's eyes onto their hands, but Terri made no move to wipe them away.

"I don't know how to make this right. Mom doesn't understand."

"She understands much more than you realize, Rach."

"She didn't punish me. But she won't hardly talk to me. She won't do anything for me at all. I don't understand."

"Have thought about the reasons why she might be doing those things, Rach?"

Rachel was silent. Terri reached over and turned the stove off with one hand.

"I did something that I shouldn't have to get back at her for falling asleep with her boyfriend."

"Sounds like you acted a bit too big for your britches, kiddo."

"Mom hasn't even cooked me supper or breakfast or anything since it happened. When I told her this morning that I needed some…stuff…she just handed me ten dollars. I don't know what to buy. I…I need my Mom, Terri."

More tears fell down her face.

"Hm. You acted like you didn't need her Friday though." Terri said gently.

And then it hit Rachel. Just like the week before, when she had locked her mom out of the bathroom and Shelby had made her lie in her own bed, despite the fact that Rachel had wanted to sleep with her, while her mom had calmed down and told her that since she had locked her out, Shelby had kept her out as well for twenty minutes…

She had acted too big for her britches…

"She is teaching me a lesson again." Rachel whispered, realization suddenly hitting her.

Terri brought one hand up and laid it gently on Rachel's cheek.

"I told you that you were an intelligent girl, kiddo."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Everyone was sitting at the table, minus Terri, Rachel, and Will. Terri and Will were bringing out the food and Rachel was waiting until then to go out and sit. She had a lot to think about, and she didn't know if she could handle the looks her mother might send her way. Or Aunt Judy. Everything made so much more sense now. She still didn't understand everything, but she understood enough.

"Come on, Rach." Terri said, holding the door open for the teenager. Rachel walked in the dining room and sat in an empty seat between Quinn and Beth.

Food was being passed around and Rachel was putting a little bit of food on her plate as everything passed her. She wasn't really hungry. There was too much unresolved conflict right now.

"Sister, aren't you hungry? You haven't hardly ate in days!" Beth announced to the entire table.

Rachel looked over at her sister.

"Shut up, Beth." Rachel said. Everyone stilled around the table and looked at Rachel.

Everyone except Shelby, who continued to look at her food and eat.

Rachel stifled a sob and threw her silverware and napkin down and jumped out of her seat, running out of the room.

Quinn looked around the table and threw her own silverware and napkin down and stared at the adults around the table.

"You are all so stupid! Just…dumbasses!"

No one had time to say anything before Quinn ran out of the room to follow Rachel and console her friend.

"Well, that went about how I expected it too." Terri said from her seat as she took a drink of her water and stared at Judy and Shelby who were on the opposite side of the table from her.

There was a smug look of satisfaction of Terri's face. She knew that she had been right. They just needed to figure that out as well.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Quinn found Rachel in the living room on the couch, her face in her hands, tears dripping down her arms.

Quinn walked over to the couch and sat down beside her, wrapping her arms around her friend. Rachel moved over so that she could put her head against Quinn's chest, and the two just sat there.

"I don't know what to do, Quinnie. Do I beg her to forgive me? Or what? She never punished me for Friday. Is it weird that I want her to punish me so that we can be normal again?" Rachel cried.

"No, Rach, I don't think that it is weird. I think that I would want the same thing if Mom was trying to teach me a lesson the same way."

"What do I do, Quinnie?"

"I know you aren't going to like this, Rach, but…but maybe you should go in there and literally drag Aunt Shel out here to talk to you. Make her talk to you, Rach. Yell. Scream. Do whatever you need to do to tell her that you are hurt and that you need to make things better. Right now. While you can."

"You think that would work?" Rachel asked, sitting up and wiping her eyes with her hands.

"It is worth a shot, Rachel."

Rachel nodded. Yes, it was. She could at least try.

Rachel stood up, Quinn's hands falling to her sides. Rachel took a deep breath and walked back into the dining room. Everyone looked up at her, but Rachel ignored them all except for Terri, who she smiled a gentle smile that did not quite reach her eyes, and then her mother, whose eyes she did not look into, but she grabbed her hand and pulled on it. Shelby looked up and then stood as Rachel pulled desperately on her hand.

Everyone watched as Shelby was pulled up and out of the dining room as quickly as the short girl could pull her mother.

Everyone's attention was soon pulled down to Beth and Wilde.

"Mommy and Sister have been mad at one another, Wilde. That is why they left. I don't know what Sister did but it must have been really bad. I bet Mommy is going to spank her now. That is what Mommy does when we are really bad." Beth told her smaller, biological sister.

"Beth!" Terri said at the same time Russ said, "Beth!" while Judy hissed an "Elizabeth!"

The little girl looked up at the three adults who had just gotten onto her. She wasn't really sure why. She was just telling the truth.

"Well, I bet she does. It is about time, too, because they have been like this for days! Aunt Judy, I think I may need to spend the night with you. That way they can finally work out their marital issues. I saw that on Jerry Springer the other day…oops…I wasn't really supposed to tell you that I watched that…" Beth said, sinking down in her seat to ignore the looks she was getting.

Yea, she probably shouldn't have said that. She looked up at them finally, and just gave them a mischievous smile.

"Sometimes you just gotta keep it real." Beth said, her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised to look eerily like her mother.

No one bothered to ask her what show she might have picked that up from. They didn't want to know.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel pulled Shelby out of the dining room and past the living room. It wasn't until Rachel walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind Shelby that she finally stopped.

"Tell me what I have to do. Tell me. I need my mom. Not…not this!" Rachel waved her hands in the air, "I need you to be…you…spank me! That is what I got last time, and I know that is what I deserve this time. Please just do something. I can't do all of this by myself!" Rachel leaned against the wall in the bathroom and slid down to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Shelby sighed and wiped her face with her hand. She was so tired. She leaned against the closed door and slid down to the floor close to her daughter.

"I am so sorry, Mom." Rachel said, her chin on her knees, a defeated look on her face as she looked towards Shelby.

"Why'd you do it, Rach? I know that you were angry with me, but, Rachel, I am an adult. If I want to have a friend over while my children are away, then that is my decision. I have that choice, Rach. You don't. You are fourteen years old. I came home to comfort my fourteen year old who is terrified of storms to find her in the arms of a boy, naked. You have no idea what that feels like, Rachel. No idea."

"I am sorry that I did that. I was…" Rachel stopped and swallowed.

"You were what?"

"I was curious. I talked to Quinn and I was curious. I told Quinn that I would talk to you about everything. That I would tell you that I was curious, especially about Jesse. But then I got mad. I got mad and I wanted to get even with you. So, I let him come over; I planned it out, and I knew what was going to happen. I knew that if you found out that I was going to be in trouble…but then you didn't punish me…"

"Oh, I didn't?" Shelby said, raising at eyebrow at her daughter.

Rachel looked up at her.

"I guess you did. But you said that you weren't going to punish me and then you didn't do any of the normal things for me that you do every day like I was an adult and I'm not…Oh." The realization of what her mother had really done over the weekend starting to really stick for the first time.

"Oh, indeed, Rach. I wanted you to get an idea of what it is like to have to do things for yourself. I make your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every day. I wash most of your clothes. I take you places, I buy everything that you need. For two days you had to do almost all of that by yourself, or you at least thought that you had to do them yourself…"

"You still washed my clothes, didn't you?" Rachel said, with a slight smile peeping through her tears.

Shelby let out a small laugh herself.

"Yes. I wasn't letting you near my washer and dryer again, no matter what lesson I was trying to teach you. You destroyed the last washer, and I still don't know how you managed it. Neither did the people at Sears."

Rachel loosened the hold she had on her knees and kept the same small smile on her face while she thought about the year of the washer. She had been so afraid that she was going to be grounded for the rest of her life. Thankfully, since no one really understood what went wrong with the washer, the warranty had covered it, and her mom had been able to easily get a new one.

"I am still going to be punished even though you taught me this other lesson, aren't I?" Rachel asked after the washer thoughts had passed.

"Yea. You messed up, Rach. You thought that you could do adult things and that it would all be okay. But it wasn't, Rach. It wasn't okay. You planned it out. It was premeditated. You messed up, Love. But before I punish you, we are going to talk. We are going to talk about a lot of things. What you did, why you did it. We are going to talk about sex, and we are going to talk about us. We are going to talk until everything is out there. This didn't only hurt you, Rach. It hurt me too. It hurts me to see you hurt, Rachel. You can mess up, Rachel. I know that you are not always going to be perfect. I don't expect you to be. I know that you are going to make mistakes, but you have to accept the consequences of those mistakes. This is not the first time that you have tried to get 'even' with someone and ended up in a situation that you were not prepared for, Rachel. So, yea, there is going to be a punishment, but not until after we talk."

Rachel nodded.

"Can we go home, then? Please, Mama?" Rachel asked. She wanted to talk. She wanted to get her punishment out of the way. She wanted things to be normal.

"Yes. We can go home." Shelby said, watching her daughter nod. It was best to everything settled as soon as they could.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby pulled into the pharmacy parking lot and grabbed her purse. Rachel was making no moves to get out so Shelby looked at her for a second before making a split second decision.

"Come on, Rach, you can go in with me."

Rachel looked at her for a moment before climbing out of the car and walking over to her. She really wasn't sure why there were even there. She had thought they were going straight home after her mother had told everyone at Will and Terri's that they were going to head home.

Apparently, Beth had informed Shelby that she was going to stay with Aunt Judy so that "Sister and you can work out your marital problems."

Quinn's eyes had gotten wide when she said that, and Terri noticed right away, though no one else had…Quinn was obviously the one who had watched Jerry Springer with a five year old.

Even Shelby had missed Quinn's looks, but she had not missed the sparkle in Rachel's eyes when she had told her what Beth had said. Quinn had told Rachel about their impromptu Jerry Springer marathon.

"What are we doing here, Mom?" Rachel asked as the bell on the door rang from an annoying set of bells that had pumpkins on it for the fall season.

"You need things before you start. You told me this morning. The only thing we have at the house is tampons."

"I don't want to use those." Rachel mumbled.

Shelby stopped and cupped Rachel's cheek.

"And you don't have to, baby. You can use what you are comfortable with. That is why we are here. Whenever you decide that you want to try and use something else, you can. When you are ready." Shelby said.

"Okay." Rachel said and then followed her mother backed to the aisle marked 'Feminine Hygiene/Sexual Health'. Rachel blushed as she watched her mother look at the products on the shelf in front of her.

Shelby grabbed several different boxes marked with the Always label, and put them in her right arm. She was about to walk towards the cashier when she said, "Oh wait just a sec, Rach," and then turned around to walk to the other end of the aisle to pick up another box in addition to the other two that she had in her arms.

"Mom! What are you getting those for?" Rachel hissed, her face turning red.

"Oh, these?" Shelby asked, holding up the box of condoms.

"Um, yea." Rachel said, looking down at her feet.

"Educational purposes for some of the talks that we are going to have in the future, love." Shelby said, patting Rachel's cheek as she went to pay for the things in her arms.

Before long, they were pulling into the driveway.

Rachel just sat in the car for a few moments and played with the bottom of her shirt.

"Rach, we have to get out of the car." Shelby said.

"When I get out, everything gets serious. We will have to have our talk and then I will be punished."

"Yes. That is true. But at the same time, everything will be resolved. And, even after you are punished we can talk. We will have all day tomorrow."

"What? Tomorrow is school." Rachel said, looking at her mother.

"Yes. For everyone but you and I. We are staying home tomorrow to make sure that everything is resolved. And, there is a huge possibility that you will still not want to sit in the morning."

That caught Rachel's attention. She had expected it, but now she knew. She was so dead.

"I am sorry, Mama." Rachel said, pouting a little bit.

Shelby smiled sympathetically at Rachel and, once again, cupped her cheek with her hand.

"I know that you are. And you are forgiven. But that doesn't mean that you are not going to be punished tonight. This is the second time that you have gotten caught in your room with a boy, Love. The first punishment obviously didn't work, so this one has to make the impression I should have made last time. But, once it is over, it is over and we can cuddle as long as you want. Come on. Let's go in the house, you can take a shower, and then we will sit and talk. Okay?"

Rachel nodded. She didn't want to be punished, but she knew that it would help with the guilt that was nagging at her relentlessly for what she had done.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel was sitting in the middle of Shelby's bed in a shirt that she had swiped from her mother and her legs bare. She had all of the pillows surrounding her, and her hair was in a messy, wet bun on top of her head with her bangs held out of the way with a bobby pin.

Rachel watched as her mom walked into the room and placed everything but the condoms under the sink in her bathroom, and then take off her pants and shirt to put them in the clothes hamper. Shelby walked over to her dresser and pulled out a shirt and yoga pants. She thought it was probably best if she was a little less 'Ms. Corcoran' and went the comfortable route of 'Rachel and Beth's Mom, Shelby'.

Shelby climbed on the bed and sat directly in front of Rachel and looked at her for a few moments.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Can we go ahead and get my spanking out of the way first? I've been waiting since Friday…"

Shelby looked at her daughter and gave her a sad smile.

"No, Rach. I don't think that would be productive. We have a lot to talk about."

"Yea, I figured that that wouldn't work." Rachel said quietly, drawing her knees up and holding them close to her.

"Hey, Rach. I know that this is not what you expected. But I need to know things, Rachel. I need to know why you did what you did last Friday. Why were you curious?"

Rachel blushed. This really was so embarrassing. Not that it was embarrassing to talk to her mom about this, more that she was embarrassed because her mom had walked in on them. Naked. That was not supposed to happen.

"Quinn had already seen Puck naked. She knew more than me. I wanted to know what she knew."

"Oh, Rachel…"

"Please don't say that." Rachel said, a tear sliding down her cheek and onto her knee.

"What?" Shelby said, leaning forward and looked at Rachel, her head tilted to the side in confusion.

"'Oh, Rachel'. That is what you said when you walked in on me and then walked to your room without saying anything else. I promise that we didn't have sex, Mama. I promise. I know it looked bad. I told him that we couldn't have sex, and he said that he wasn't ready either. We made out, and he touched my tattoo and maybe my chest a bit, but nothing else happened. When I went to pull his boxers down, he said 'Ladies first, always' and then laid me down and looked at my tattoo. But then it started to storm and I sat up and jumped in his lap, and then you were there. I am sorry, Mama."

"Are you truly sorry, Rachel, or are you sorry that you got caught?" Shelby asked her gently.

Rachel swallowed and looked at her mom.

"Can I be honest with you, Mom?" Rachel asked in a whisper that was almost so silent that Shelby could not hear it.

"Always, Rachel. Even when you are afraid that I am going to be angry with you, you can always be honest with me. Always."

"I was going to tell you. I was going to tell you that I had invited Jesse over and that we explored one another's bodies…but then you caught us and I realized that I really was doing things that were wrong, and I betrayed your trust, and I disappointed you. I hate disappointing you." Rachel cried.

"You really did this to get back at me for falling asleep with Logan, Rachel? Truly? Why couldn't you just talk to me about what you walked into, Rachel? It was not that big a deal. I know that it upset you because I was not immediately available to you, but we talked about that." Shelby said to her daughter.

Rachel didn't want to answer that question. She had done it for more than just to be on the same level of knowledge as Quinn, but to be able to throw the information back in her mother's face. She had done that.

"I know. It was just a shock. Beth and me…we aren't used to sharing you, Mama. It is hard. Really hard. And I was just angry when I came home and needed you, and he was there. I know that we talked about it last weekend, but I was still angry. I know that I should have told you why I was angry."

"Yea, Rach, you should have."

"I told Jesse that I couldn't talk to him today. I know that you are probably never going to let us even look at each other. I guess that I can't blame you. We messed up. I know we messed up. And then when you made me make my own supper and…and you know I can't cook, and I needed you…" Rachel put her head down on her knees so that she could hide her face as tears came falling again. Did she really have more tears left to cry?

"Hey, Rachel, babe, stop crying and look at me." Shelby moved closer to Rachel and finally got the girl to look up at her.

"Rachel Barbra, I need you to understand what I did, but you have to listen to me, closely. Are you listening to me?" Rachel nodded.

"Friday, I walked in on you naked with a fifteen year old boy. I suspected that it had something to do with Logan and I being discovered the weekend before asleep in my bed. I did not know anything about Quinn or you trying to know the things that she knows. You tried to one up me, though, Rachel. You tried to do adult things, but you are not an adult. I decided that since you wanted to do adult things, then maybe, just maybe, you would realize that you were not an adult if I had you do some of the things that I always do for you. Did you learn that, Rachel? Did you learn that you are still a kid and that there is a lot that you still depend on me for?" Shelby asked.

Rachel looked up at her mom, her eyes sad, but full of understanding.

"I am so sorry, Mama. I didn't…I didn't realize all of the things that you do for me. Not until I didn't have you doing them. I think I really got it when you handed me that ten dollars this morning…though, Mom, if you think about it, if I was an adult, you probably wouldn't have given me any money either." Rachel said, thinking seriously about the entire thing.

"Perhaps not. Or, when you are eighteen and in college and have no money, you are going to call dear old mom, crying because you don't have enough money to buy tampons or macaroni and cheese, two necessities that you obviously cannot live without. And you are going to look back on this and think, 'I still need Mom sometimes even when I think I am all grown up', and it is going to be okay. I will be okay with it, and you will be okay with it, and to hell with anyone else because you, Rachel Barbra, are always going to be my baby. Do you honestly think that I didn't know exactly how you were going to get to Will and Terri's this afternoon? Judy was always going to take you. You were always going to end up there despite the fact that I told you if you went home to get a ride with someone's parents. I knew that you had taken food up to your room on Saturday. I also knew that we needed space. I know that that is hard for you to understand, but one day I promise that you will."

"You were really mad." Rachel said matter of factly.

"What would you do if in, say ten years, you walked in and your sister was naked with a boy in her room?" Shelby asked, using the one single person that Rachel was most protective of and was also younger than her.

"I would kill the boy." Rachel said within seconds. No one better ever mess with her little sister!

Shelby laughed a small laugh.

"That is the same reaction that I felt when I saw you sitting in Jesse's arms. And, Rach, I know Jesse. In fact, I like Jesse. None of that has changed. But I was angry. I am still disappointed. That is only going to be erased with time. You cannot play with sex, Rachel. We had this conversation after Puck. Sex is not a game. Emotions are involved, making it harder on someone your age than an adult; but Rachel, even adults let their emotions get the better of them when sex is involved. It is never simple. I don't want you to make mistakes. I don't want you to have sex before you are ready. You can make the little mistakes, Rachel, but the big ones, I have to do whatever I need to in order to stop you from making life changing mistakes."

"I understand, Mama." Rachel whispered.

"Is there anything that you want to ask, Rach? Anything at all?"

"How long is it going to be before you trust me again?" Rachel her, her bottom lip quivering.

"Rachel, I don't know. I want to trust you…so badly, I want to trust you. But, it is going to take some time before I can give you the trust that I had before all of this."

"Okay." Rachel cried.

"Anything else?"

"Do you really not hate Jesse?"

Shelby smiled, though she quickly hid it.

"No, I don't hate him. His parents and I talked. After you are both finished being punished, you will be allowed to see one another with a door open policy, as long as I am home or one of his parents are home. You still are not going on a date-date until you are sixteen, but Jesse is only a few months older than you and he is apparently not allowed to go out on a real date until then either. If the two of you are serious, then you will be able to wait. His parents and I also agree that your friendship is good for one another. You both have the same hopes and dreams. You are both dreaming big in a small town with small thoughts. I am not going to take him away from you."

"Thank you, Mom." Rachel said sincerely.

"That doesn't mean, however, that I want the two of you having sex. You will be prepared if the situation arises, but I would appreciate it if you waited until you are one hundred percent ready. I know that it has to happen sooner or later, but I really wish you would wait."

"I didn't want to have sex, Mama. I swear. I just wanted to look at him…and touch him," Rachel blushed, "and he was just going to touch me and look. He wanted to see my tattoo. It was all kind of awkward and then the storm, and I was afraid…"

"It is okay to be afraid, Rachel. It is okay to be curious. But I would rather you learn through different means than getting naked with Jesse, or any boy for now. Okay?"

Rachel took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay. I know that I can come and talk to you about this stuff. There was just so much going on. I will try to do better, I promise."

"That is all I ask, Rachel."

Rachel started playing with the blankets around her feet. She couldn't help but feel that the conversation was getting dangerously close to ending, and then she was going to be punished for her actions.

"Mama?"

"Yes?" Shelby watched as Rachel's emotions played over her face. Rachel was like an open book to Shelby most of the time and this was definitely one of those times.

"Will you hold me when you are done? I miss being held by you. I really want you to hold me."

"I will hold you all night, and all day tomorrow afterwards, Rachel, if that is what you want."

Rachel stifled her thousandth sob of the day, "That is what I want."

Shelby sighed. She wasn't really ready for this, but it needed to be done. She had known that this would be the way she punished Rachel since Friday. It just had to be the right time, when everything was already talked through and settled.

Everything but the punishment.

Shelby moved to the side of the bed and Rachel watched her apprehensively.

"Um, I need to go to the bathroom, Mom." Rachel said.

Shelby looked at her, trying to gage whether she was being truthful, but she nodded regardless. Rachel was going to want to only be held afterwards, and she was not going to want to have the need of using the bathroom right off to interrupt that.

Shelby waited. And waited. Five minutes went by.

"Rachel, honey, come on, now."

Rachel slowly walked towards the door and stood in the doorway.

"Can I have a glass of water?" Rachel asked.

"Yes." Shelby said. She was aware that Rachel was stalling. She would give her this one.

Several minutes later, Rachel was still in the bathroom with a disposable cup in her hands.

"Rachel, come. Now." Shelby finally said. Enough was enough.

Rachel sighed and put the cup on the counter and then walked into her mother's room and stood about five feet away from Shelby.

"You promise that you are going to hold me?"

"I promise. Come on, Rach."

"You still love me?" These tactics were so working, Rachel thought.

"More than life itself."

"Can we just…"

"One…Two…" okay so the stalling was not working. Rachel rushed to her mother's side and stood there, already teary eyed.

"Mama, I am so sorry. I am sorry that I did what I did…"

"I know, Rachel," Shelby gently guided the girl over her lap, "but that does not mean that you get out of punishment. You earned this one, babe. Next time you are faced with a situation like this, you need to talk to me first."

And with that, Shelby bared her daughter of her Friday SpongeBob panties, (ones that made Shelby shake her head…it was Monday…) and let the first smack rain down.

About midway through this spanking, Rachel realized that it really was not going to be an easy one. Not the way she had thought it would be. Rachel had figured that it would be an easy one because they had talked everything out and she had said that she was sorry.

Apparently her mom had not gotten that memo.

"I am sorry. Mama, please…" Rachel sobbed. Her backside was really starting to sting.

But, Shelby stayed strong. She didn't lecture. Even towards the end when she normally would have lectured Rachel, she merely tipped the girl up to have a better angle at her sit spots and let them know the fury of her hand as well.

Finally, though, finally, it was all over. Shelby let Rachel sob over her lap for a full minute before she finally pulled her daughter up and then moved to sit with her back against the headboard.

"Come here, baby." Shelby said, holding her arms open. Shelby had thought that Rachel would lie on her stomach beside her, but instead, the girl climbed up on her lap, one leg on each side of her legs, chest to chest with Shelby with her head on her shoulder. It was a position that Rachel rarely sat in anymore, but a position she had sat in a lot when she was smaller. Shelby felt her shirt being raised, and Rachel's hands grasping the material. Shelby rocked her side to side and rubbed her back.

"I am sorry, Mama." Rachel cried.

"I know. It is all over now."

"That was the worst one ever, Mama."

Shelby smiled a little as she continued to rub Rachel's back.

"I know, love. You deserved that one, though."

Rachel sniffed.

"I know. I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too, baby girl. More than you will ever know."

For nearly thirty minutes they sat like that, Rachel's tears having more or less subsided, though she continued to run the back of her hand over Shelby's stomach with the cloth of her shirt fisted in her hand.

"How about we take a small break and go down and eat? I will make you soup and a sandwich. I know that you haven't really eaten today." Shelby said softly. Rachel nodded on Shelby's shoulder. She could do that.

Shelby gently scooted to the edge of the bed and let Rachel stand up. Shelby stood up and Rachel leaned into her for a few moments.

"Come on, sweetheart." Shelby said, and together, though one rather stiffly, walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where Shelby quickly made tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich for both of them. Twenty minutes later she was setting the food on the bar so that Rachel could stand and eat it, and she sat down on a barstool.

"So…are we okay now?" Rachel asked, looking at her bowl and taking a small bite of her sandwich.

Shelby looked at her daughter and smiled lightly.

"Yes. We are okay. You are under light restriction for at least the next two weeks, and even afterwards, I am not sure that I will let you stay home by yourself for a while, but we are okay. Jesse and you are still friends, but neither of you are allowed to hang out alone. No boys in your room, and I want you to promise me that next time you will talk to me about things that are bothering you. This wasn't a small thing, Rach. You messed up badly. But we have talked and you have been punished, albeit a bit more than you are used to. You are forgiven, Rachel. I still love you just as much as I always have. The only thing that you have lost for the moment is my trust, but I promise…I promise, Rachel Barbra Corcoran, that you will be able to gain that back. You are a good girl, Rachel. Remember, mistakes are okay to make, as long as you expect the consequences and understand them."

"I understand, Mama. I am sorry that I disappointed you." Rachel said, finishing off her sandwich.

"It is okay, Rachel. I am sorry that you felt you could not talk to me about all of these things."

"I will try from now on. I mean…you are my Mom…my person. I know that a lot of the kids I go to school with don't feel like they can ever talk to their parents, but I know that I can. Terri told me that I could talk to her too…I think she knew a lot more than she was letting on."

Shelby laughed.

"Terri is pretty smart. I am glad that she told you that you can talk to her. Sometimes there will be times when you feel more comfortable talking about things with other people. I understand that, Rach. I would much rather you talk to a trustworthy adult like Terri than to someone else."

"I am glad that you don't mind, Mom. I still like talking to you best though."

Shelby smiled.

"Terri is our family now, too, Love."

Both finished their soup in silence and then Rachel looked up at her mom.

"Will you hold me again now? That really hurt, Mama…I think your hand must have been coated in steel or something!"

Shelby laughed and walked over to her daughter and kissed her forehead.

"Come on, I will rub some lotion onto your sore behind and we will cuddle and watch that delirious, obtuse sponge that you like so much." Shelby said, pulled her daughter into a hug and then up the stairs and into her bedroom. Rachel laid on the bed, on her stomach, and waited on her mom to come into the room with some lotion. Rachel was thankful for the relief, and soon mother and daughter were cuddling, Rachel on her stomach with her head in Shelby's lap, watching television. Shelby played with tendrils of Rachel's hair, and slowly, the two of them fell asleep.

Both were thankful that this misstep was over. They were happy, and Rachel, who realized that she needed her mother more than anyone, slept better that night than she had in ages.

* * *

**AN: I am going to let this chapter speak for itself. **

**Thoughts?**

**I will say, however, that I am not sure when the next update will be because I have to do some homework this week. Like seriously. lol**


	26. SleepOver

**Chapter Twenty-six: Sleepover**

The next morning, Rachel rolled over and then immediately thought better of it. Her mom had been very thorough the night before, and there was still residual sting left.

"Are you going to get up?" Shelby said, her eyes still closed. It was nearly nine in the morning, and she was thankful that she had taken the day off.

"No." Rachel said, scooting closer to Shelby and putting her head on Shelby's shoulder and her arm across her stomach.

"I'm still sore." Rachel pouted, looked up at her mom despite the fact that the woman had yet to open her eyes.

Shelby moved her arm down, around Rachel, and patted her back.

"You will live. That punishment was good for you and thoroughly deserved. Stop pouting. You didn't pout this much last night after I was finished spanking you."

"I'm not pouting. I am never gonna be able to sit again though. Besides, how do you know I am pouting? Your eyes are closed."

"I am your mother, I know everything. And good, that means that I don't ever have to worry about sitting naked on a boy's lap again, so I am okay with that."

"Guess I will have to be on top…ohhhh…" Rachel's eyes went wide as Shelby's eyes shot open.

"Mom, I was joking…I…I swear!." Rachel said hurriedly.

"You better be, Rachel Barbra. Sex is not something we are going to joke about, young lady. Do you understand?" Shelby said, giving Rachel's backside a light pop because she wanted to emphasis her point, but didn't want to make Rachel's backside hurt more than it was.

"Ow. Yes ma'am. I am sorry. I won't joke about it again."

"Good. Because you and I still have to have a few sex talks and I do not think that you want to give me any more ammunition to fuel those talks, do you?" Shelby asked her.

"Not really."

"I didn't think so. Are you hungry?"

"A little bit. I wish that I could just lay here all day with you though."

Shelby pulled Rachel to her closer.

"We can, but we need to eat something. I need to shower and brush my teeth, and you need to brush your teeth as well."

Rachel laid there for a few minutes and then laughed lightly.

"What is so funny?" Shelby asked her, running her hands through her hair.

"Remember when I was like seven and I you let me play out in the front yard because you had sprayed ant poison all over the back yard and didn't want me get into it? You told me to stay inside the fence in the front yard, but I was playing pretend and wanted to use the car as a spaceship. I snuck in the house and grabbed your car keys and went outside and got in the car. I started it up because I knew that any good space woman needed music. You must have heard the car turn on because as soon as I was going to start turning the windshield wipers on and trying to put the car in drive, you were there. It was like magic…you were pulling me out of the car and turning the car off all at the same time. I just knew that I was in trouble. I tried to get away from you even though you had your arm around my waist and I was up in the air. I thrashed around and tried to get away to hide from you, and you finally swatted me once and said, 'Just wait until I get you in the house', and then I knew I was in for it. When we got into the house you didn't even take me upstairs. It is the only time that you have ever not taken me into your bedroom or a bathroom. Right in the middle of the living room you flipped my skirt up and pulled underwear down and spanked me. Ten whole swats. I thought I was supposed to only get seven, like Beth thought she was only supposed to get five for walking to Aunt Judy's house."

Rachel stopped laughing and then got really serious, "When you were done, I remember screaming at you. I screamed that I would never be able to sit again, and that I wished I could pee like a boy because I was never going to be able to sit on the potty again and it was all your fault. And then I remember looking in your eyes…and you were crying. It was like all my fight left me because you were crying and I had never seen that before. So…"

Shelby cleared her throat, "You asked me why. You asked me why I was crying when you were the one who were spanked. And I told you that I was scared. That you scared me because you disobeyed me and risked your life by playing in the car. You wiped a tear away with your little hand and then said you were sorry, that you didn't know it was dangerous even though you knew it was wrong, and that you would never risk your life again." Shelby said, kissing Rachel's head.

Rachel swallowed and moved her head to look up at Shelby.

"I made you cry this time, too, didn't I?"

Shelby pulled Rachel close to her and rubbed her back, but didn't say anything.

"You don't have to tell me. I know I did..even if it was for something different than risking my life. I am sorry."

"It is okay, Rach. We are okay now, Rach."

"I know."

"Good. No matter what happens between us, Rach, we will always be okay after we talk about it. Always."

Both snuggled closer to one another. Breakfast could wait.

-**OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel was lying on her stomach on the couch flipping through the television while her mom was in the kitchen trying to figure out what to cook for supper. They had only been downstairs for about thirty minutes when Beth came banging into the house, followed closely by Judy and Quinn.

"Beth, go say hello to your mommy. Quinn, you head in there too. I need to speak with Rachel."

Rachel heard her Aunt Judy say that, and she froze. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to Aunt Judy. Didn't she have a choice in this?

Judy came in the living room and sat on the coffee table in front of Rachel. Rachel ignored her and continued flipping through the channels.

"Rachel."

Rachel flipped through several more channels.

"Rachel."

Rachel went back three channels…she thought she saw Barbra…no…that wasn't Barbra.

Judy slid directly in front of her and reached over and took the remote out of her hand. Rachel finally looked up at her Aunt Judy.

"Are you going to talk to me now?" Judy asked Rachel, moving a piece of hair behind Rachel's ear.

"I don't know, are you going to talk to me? I get Mom not really talking to me and making me do some things by myself. I deserved that, but I didn't do anything to you." Rachel said.

"True. But I did talk to you Friday afternoon. I didn't necessarily say anything you liked and I did not comfort you like you might have liked, but I did talk to you."

"It wasn't fair. I didn't do anything to you. Quinn didn't get the silent treatment when she told you about her and Puck." Rachel said, looking past Judy instead of at her.

"The situations were different. I didn't catch Quinn in that position twice. And, Rachel, I didn't ignore you. I didn't even see you until yesterday afternoon when I told you that I would drive you to Will and Terri's."

Well. Aunt Judy had a point there…Rachel hadn't even realized it really.

"Well. Fine. But my Mom has punished me now, so you have to talk to me like I am not in trouble anymore." Rachel told her childishly.

Judy smiled and shook her head.

"You are something else, Rachel Corcoran. Something else indeed. I actually just wanted to come in here and let you know that if you ever need to talk, I am here for you. Quinnie was able to talk to me about her and Puck, and if you need that type of conversation, I am always available to you."

Rachel looked up at Judy and smiled.

"I know that."

Judy smiled and leaned down and kissed Rachel's head and gave her bottom a couple of sound pats.

"Ow! Aunt Judy!"

"That was just a reminder that I love you…" Judy smiled.

"Well, my behind still stings from last night!"

"It was also a reminder to behave."

Judy stood up to a long whine of "Aunt Judy!" which made Judy laugh as she walked towards the kitchen.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

While Judy was talking to Rachel, Shelby had pulled two of the bar stools out from under the bar and was standing over Quinn and Beth who were on top of the stools.

She was eyeing them both carefully.

"So, let me get this straight. One night when Beth was spending the night at your house, you decided to go downstairs and watch Jerry Springer…something that Judy does not even let you, at fifteen years old, watch. Correct?"

Quinn looked down and nodded.

"Okay, Beth, so this particular night you heard the television and decided to investigate and noticed that Quinn was watching something that I have told you before that you are to never watch. Correct?"

"Yes ma'am." Beth said, sulking and looking down at the floor. Her mommy was being so unfair.

"And Quinn, you proceeded to let Beth, who is only five years old, watch a vulgar talk show in the middle of the night. Not only that, but you watched more than one episode, didn't you?"

"Yea." Quinn said, looking at her hands.

"Why?"

Quinn looked up at her Aunt Shel. Shelby was leaning against the counter with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked her…maybe if she played dumb…

Shelby raised an eyebrow.

Yea, Quinn hadn't figured that would work.

"I didn't think it would matter! I mean, usually she is really good at keeping secrets!" Quinn said, looking over at Beth who stared up at her with wide eyes.

"Hey, don't blame this on me! I am five! You are supposed to set the example. A good one. Obviously you set a bad one." Beth said, keeping her arms crossed over her own tiny chest.

Shelby had to hold in her own laughter. The older girls could rarely throw Beth under the bus...the little girl was too good at throwing the older girls under there right along with her.

"I am going to tell you both something, and you better listen. I want no more Jerry Springer references. And neither of you had better watch that show again. Am. I. Understood?"

Both girls nodded quickly.

"Good. Now Beth, go put your bag upstairs." Beth scrambled off the stool and grabbed her bag off the table and ran up the stairs…she wanted to get out of there before her mommy decided to swat her!

Quinn watched wistfully as Beth got to the leave the scrutinizing gaze of Aunt Shel.

"Quinn, I am serious. She is five. She can't watch Jerry Springer."

"I understand." Quinn replied, pouting.

"I do, however, want to say thank you."

This made Quinn look up.

"For what?"

"For being there for Rachel like a good friend. Everyone has been through a lot in the last months…I am glad that you are both there for one another, even after the Puck and Slushie fiasco."

"She is my sister, Aunt Shel. I love her. I am closer to her and Beth than I am with my biological sister. Even when we were angry with one another I wanted to be there for her."

Shelby reached out and cupped Quinn's cheek.

"Which is one of the reasons that you are both so close…as close as sisters. I love you, Quinn."

Quinn smiled and leaned into Shelby's hand until Shelby walked up and wrapped her arms around Quinn.

"I love you, too, Aunt Shel." Quinn said, leaning into the hug.

Shelby sat her chin on top of Quinn's head and then said, "Though, you have better not let me hear about you watching Springer again. Seriously, Quinn. Marital issues?"

Quinn couldn't do anything to stop herself.

She burst out laughing.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Two weeks later things had finally slowed down in the Corcoran house. In fact, they had slowed down enough that Shelby was finally talked into having a Friday night sleepover. At first, she had told Rachel no, that she needed to wait another week before she could have the sleepover she had been begging to have for several days that would include Quinn, Santana, and Brittney.

But, on Tuesday, Quinn had asked her after Glee. She had told Quinn the same thing: wait another week, and then maybe.

Brittney had hinted in her fourth period English class on Wednesday that she would love to come to Rachel's sleepover…would it be possible to have it this weekend. Shelby told her no.

By the time that Santana asked on Thursday morning, Shelby finally gave in. Rachel had been on her best behavior, and she probably needed some time with her friends outside of school.

So, now, Shelby had a car full of girls. Beth was sitting in her booster seat surrounded by four teenagers. Shelby felt like a chauffeur because no one had wanted to sit in the front with her. Instead, they had all opted to sit in the back.

Each girl besides Rachel, including Quinn, had an overstuffed, overnight bag, which Shelby thought was odd because Quinn had clothes in her room at Shelby's house. Shelby finally decided that she probably didn't even want to know what they had in their bags.

Originally, she was going to have Beth spend the night with Terri and Will, but they were going to come get the little girl the next day and take her and Wilde to the zoo after Beth had begged to stay home for the night. Rachel had been a little put out, but knew that their mom was not going to make Beth go if she didn't want too. Unfortunately.

Shelby unlocked the door to the front of the house, and four teenagers nearly ran her over as they tried to get themselves and their bags up to Rachel's room where the sleepover would take place. Despite Quinn having a room and a bed, it was Rachel's sleepover, so they would all be sleeping in Rachel's room. Plus, Rachel's room was the biggest after Shelby's and there was more places to do things. Shelby had even moved the television and dvd player out of her room into Rachel's so that they could watch tv, leaving the downstairs quiet.

But, as the girls got halfway up the stairs, Shelby stopped them.

"Girls. I want you to put your things up, but then I wish to speak to Santana and Brittney before you guys get into anything. I will be in the kitchen." Shelby told them.

Brittney nodded happily…the girl was always happy….and Santana grimaced. She wasn't sure what she had done…she hadn't done anything. Yet.

When the girls went into Rachel's room, Santana dropped her bag on the bed and looked at Rachel.

"Hey, don't look at me! I don't know what she wants!" Rachel said, bringing up her hands in a show of innocence. Rachel really didn't know what her mom wanted with the other two girls.

"Come on, Brit. Let's go see what Ms. C wants." Santana said, grabbing Brittney's hand and pulling her down the stairs and into the kitchen where Ms. Corcoran was fixing Beth a snack while they waited to decide what they were going to eat for supper.

"Beth, take your snack and just for today, you can eat in front of the television in the living room."

"Oh! Thanks, Mommy." Beth said, grabbing the apple her mommy had peeled and cut up for her.

Once Beth was gone, Shelby motioned towards the bar so that the other two girls would sit down. They did so immediately, and looked at Shelby.

"Okay girls. I am going to make this quick. I know that the two of you are together. Normally, I would not let the two of you stay here overnight together, but I get that the four of you have been friends for a long time. However, there will be no funny business. There will be no kissing or touching of any kind because I will not have it in my home. I have known both of you for a while and I expect that neither of you have chosen to tell your parents that you are together…"

Santana started to say something, but Shelby raised her hand to stop her.

"…and that is fine. I am not going to tell them. When they are told is completely up to the two of you. I am not going to step in when it is not any of my business. But, at the same time, I am not going to let the two of you cozy up under my roof because you can't at your own homes. Do you both understand?" Shelby told them. Santana looked down at the table. How had Ms. C known that her parents didn't know?

"We understand, Ms. C." Brittney said good naturedly. Shelby smiled at her.

"Brittney, you may go back upstairs. Santana will be up in a little bit."

Brittney nodded and then jumped out of her seat and skipped up the stairs.

Santana looked at Shelby with fear in her eyes. There were no traces of tears. Santana Lopez did not do tears. Minus the one time that Ms. C had made her cry a couple weeks before.

"Please don't tell my parents, Ms. C. They can't know. Brittney…she doesn't care whether her parents know. She is different. I mean, we are fifteen and she still doesn't have a care in the world. I don't want my parents to kick me out of the house. I won't have anywhere to go." Santana said, her voice laced with fear.

Shelby looked at the young girl in front of her. Often, it was hard to consider Santana Lopez a young girl because her attitude was big and her personality was bigger. But right now, Santana was afraid. Shelby wished that there was something she could say. Something that would make Santana realize that her parents would love her. Shelby knew that Santana swung both ways. But Shelby also knew Maribel and Santos Lopez. She had known them since the girls were about seven and had shared a class together. Shelby didn't think that the Lopez's would care that their daughter was bisexual…but at this moment in time, that was not something that Santana wanted to hear. Santana was in denial. She needed time to think and focus. She needed time to come to terms with her own sexuality.

"I am not going to tell them, Santana. But, I think that, eventually, you are going to have to tell your parents. If you need someone with you, Santana, I will sit with you." Shelby told the girl in front of her. Santana was tense.

"I can't tell them right now. I am not even sure myself. I need to be sure."

Shelby nodded. She understood. Santana was curious. She was curious about girls and boys the way that Quinn, Rachel, and probably Kurt were curious about boys.

"I understand that, Santana. Just remember, one day you have to tell them."

Santana nodded.

"Okay, why don't you go on upstairs? Rachel will be coming down soon to find out why I am holding you hostage. Just remember, no hanky panky in my house, or you will regret it, young lady."

Santana smiled mischievously.

"Sure thing, Ms. C." Santana smiled and headed towards the stairs. Good thing Ms. C didn't know about all the sweets they brought. It was more fun to hype Rachel up on sugar than it was trying to get her drunk…not that they had ever tried to get Rachel drunk, but a hyped up Rachel was hilarious.

It was going to be a fun night.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

By eleven that night, Shelby had tried to put Beth to bed twice, but the little girl kept sneaking out of bed to join the four teenagers in Rachel's room where they were watching movies and simply be rambunctious. The second time Shelby had caught Beth, Rachel had whined about the little girl being in her room until Santana had elbowed her and whispered something in her ear.

Shelby had watched as Rachel had given Santana an annoyed look and then looked up at her mother and said that Beth could stay as long as she didn't start acting stupid…something that caused Shelby to send Rachel a chastising look.

Finally, however, Shelby had agreed to let Beth stay up with the girls, but she was going to bed. She would be the one getting up in the morning making breakfast for Beth, who would still probably be up by seven wanting her eggs and toast. Shelby suspected the other girls would wake up once they smelled the food as well, even if they did fall back asleep.

"Okay, girls. I am going to bed. If you need anything…any of you…wake me up. Try to keep it down, Beth if you get tired go to sleep. You four…don't do anything that you are not supposed too." Shelby said with a yawn. She was not about to stay up as long as the girls. She was tired.

"Okay, Mom. We will keep it down." Rachel said, smiling at her mother.

Santana and Quinn nodded.

Shelby ignored the twinkle in last two girls' eyes. It was better to ignore it than to figure out what they had planned.

Shelby went to bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

In Rachel's room, Beth was sitting in Santana's lap whispering. Rachel couldn't hear what they were saying, but she was suspicious.

Beth nodded her head and giggled.

"Sister, Sanny, Quinnie, and Britty brought snacks!" Beth said, as all three of the girls she mentioned dragged their bags out in the floor in the circle that had been created by them.

Rachel had figured that there would be forbidden sweets. There always was at these get togethers.

Rachel's eyes grew wide at the amount of sugary goodness that fell onto the floor in front of her. Chocolate. Pixie Stix. Ding Dongs. Twinkies. Caramel. There were also cans of soda falling from Brittney's bag…

"I will go get cups and ice!" Rachel said, and was gone and back within five minutes.

Santana, with Beth still in her lap, was smiling as she watched everyone break into the treats on the floor. Beth took whatever pleased her, and then looked up at Santana.

"You know in a minute she is fixing to start dancing…or singing…or running around the house…"

"I know, Kid. That is one of the great things about these sleepovers." Santana said.

"You wanna know a secret?" Beth asked her gleefully.

Santana looked at her for a second and then nodded.

"Comere…" Beth said, trying to get the much taller girl to bend down to her level so that she could whisper in her ear.

"What is it, Kid?"

"If you get Sister to drink that Dr. Pepper, and then eat all these sweets…and then tell her that she should go wake up Mommy for a dance party…it is really funny…She will jump on top of Mommy while she is sleeping and will sit on top of her…and Mommy will jump up but won't be able to get up because Rachie will sit on top of her…Sister will try to get Mommy to sing or dance with her…it is really funny. Sister did it one time when Kurt was here." Beth said mischievously.

"Really?" Santana asked her.

"Yea. Wait until she drinks and eats a bit more though….the longer you wait, the funnier she is." Beth smiled.

"Okay, Kid. We will keep this between you and me."

Beth laughed. This was going to be so good.

"Okay."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

A little over two hours later, nearly three in the morning, Rachel was officially on a sugar high. Santana had never seen it quite this bad, and the girl was talking so quickly that no one save, it seemed, Beth, could understand what she was saying. The trouble was, Beth was very nearly asleep on her feet.

"What else did you give her, Santana?" Quinn asked. Even she had not seen Rachel on a sugar high this bad. Her words were running together, and she was talking during the movie they were watching…though no one was really paying attention to it…and had nearly fallen off the bed when she had decided to do some dance on it and had been merely jumping up and down as quickly as she could.

She was wearing the other girls out from simply watching her. Except, perhaps, Brittney, who was almost as hyped up as much as Rachel. Her eyes were wide, and she was trying to dance with Rachel.

"Sanny, I think it is time." Beth said. The little girl knew that she was fixing to fall asleep and she wanted to see this.

"You think?" Santana asked.

"Time for what?" Quinn asked, her eyes narrowing at Beth. Quinn knew Beth, and she knew how sneaky the little girl could be.

"Hey, Rachel!" Santana yelled up at the girl dancing with Brittney on top of the bed.

"Yea?" She asked, slowing her bouncing, but not completely stopping.

"Why don't you ask your mom to dance?"

Several things happened at once at that point. Quinn gasped. Rachel smiled widely and jumped off the bed and was out the door before anyone knew what was going on, and then Brittney looked at Santana and asked, "What is going on."

Quinn turned towards Santana, her hands on her hips and stared at the taller girl.

"You are gonna get us all in trouble!" Quinn hissed.

"Beth said it would be funny!" Santana said, pointing to the little girl.

"Yea, because last time she didn't get in trouble because Aunt Shel didn't know that she was out of bed!"

"You said only Kurt was here, Beth." Santana said, turning on the five year old.

"Did I? I meant Kurt and Quinnie were here. Let's go watch."

"Beth, this is all on you this time!" Quinn hissed.

All of the girls went to the doorway to Shelby's room.

Just in time to watch as Rachel sat down on top of a sleeping Shelby Corcoran…

…and yelled, "Mom! Let's dance!"

Quinn's eyes grew wide... and she looked at Santana….

"We have to hide!" Quinn dropped to the floor and crawled to the end of Shelby's bed so that she wouldn't be seen.

Unfortunately, the other three girls were followed her.

"We can't all hide here!" Quinn hissed.

"Why are we hiding?" Brittney asked.

"Rachel Barbra Corcoran! What the hell are you doing?" a sleepy, but angry voice came.

"That's why!" Quinn whisper hissed.

"Beth told me to do it!" Santana said.

"Hey, don't blame this on me! I am five! You shouldn't listen to me!"

"Let's dance, Mom! It will be fun! You have slept all night. It is time to get up!"

"I don't understand why we are hiding." Brittney said.

"Brittney, hush. All three of you hush." Quinn hissed at them.

Shelby was staring at her fourteen year old and groaned. Having your kid sit on you and wake you up was not Shelby's favorite way to wake up. And she could hear the hissed at the end of the bed.

She had known the girls were up to something.

"How much sugar have you had since I went to bed?" Shelby asked, staring up at her child. She knew Rachel, and knew her well. There was only one thing that made her lose all common sense like this.

Sugar. It was the reason Shelby monitored it. Nothing Shelby had tried had made the effects any less. Beth didn't react to sugar at all, and Rachel acted like she was on speed.

"Oh I don't know. You know a couple sodas…a Dr. Pepper, a Mountain Dew…maybe two of each…or was it three? I don't know. They were really good. And a Twinkie, and a Ding Dong. I also had a handful of caramels…they were so good, Mom! I had a chocolate bar. It reminded me of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory…sing with me, Mom! Oompa, oompa, oompadee doo, I've got another…"

Shelby reached her hand up and placed it over Rachel's mouth.

"Not right now, Rachel. Girls. The ones at the end of my bed. Stand up. Now." Shelby said.

She saw Beth pop up first. Shelby looked over at her bedside clock and groaned. Great. Her five year old was up at three in the morning.

"Beth. Bed. Now. I will be in there to tuck you in soon. If you are not in bed, you are getting swats."

Beth ran out of the room with a laugh as soon as Quinn, Brittney, and Santana made themselves known.

"Whose idea was this, Quinn?"

"Not mine! I didn't even know until Rachel was running in here! Beth told Santana to tell Rachel to run in here after she was all hyped up on sugar…"

"You have to admit that it is a little funny, Ms. C." Santana said hopefully. She could tell that the woman didn't really see the humor in it.

"Okay, girls, Rachel's room. Now. Find a movie to put in…something with absolutely no singing. The lights will be off and you will all lie down. Now go. Rachel will be in there soon. Rachel, come with me."

The girls practically ran out of the room. They didn't want to face whatever it was that Rachel was fixing to face. It was every girl for herself when Shelby Corcoran's 'scary eyes' came out.

"Where are we going, Mom? Are we going to dance?"

Shelby rolled her eyes. Was it possible that her kid was a sugar drunk? Was it possible to get drunk or high off of a high sugar intake?

"I am going to make you some warm milk."

"But that will make me sleepy!"

"Exactly…" Shelby at least hoped that the milk would work like it normally did.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

It was nine in the morning and Shelby had not been back to sleep. Rachel had been so wired that she was still awake in the living room watching television while the other girls slept. Beth had been up since eight, and was now picking out an outfit to be approved by her mother so that she could go to the zoo with Will, Terri, and Wilde. Shelby knew that Rachel would eventually crash, and when she did, Shelby knew that she would be able to take a nap.

She knew that the sugar debacle was not all Rachel's fault…she knew that the other girls thought it was funny to hype Rachel up on sugar, but normally they didn't bring as much with them. Next time the sleepover was at her house, Shelby was checking bags. Never again. It was simply not worth the sleepless hours. Shelby had once asked a doctor why she thought Rachel acted that way when she ate sugar…the doctor had simply said that Rachel already had so much energy, energy that was often expended in dance and singing lessons, that sugar simply added to her energy levels and it was best to limit the source.

But when friends snuck in sweets, it was hard to limit them.

Shelby heard a knock at the door and knew that it was Terri coming to pick up Beth. Terri was picking her up while Will and Wilde had Daddy and Me breakfast like they did every Saturday morning, and Shelby had asked her to knock so that the doorbell did not wake up the rest of the girls.

Letting Terri in the house, she smiled at her and walked into the kitchen.

"Girls keep you up last night? You look like you haven't slept." Terri said with a grin plastered on her face. Beth was staying with her and Will tonight, and she was glad to know that she would be able to get the two children to sleep by nine. The late night sleepovers were not on them yet.

"They gave Rachel sugar. Word to the wise, never give Rachel much sugar. Especially at night." Shelby told the woman in front of her.

Terri laughed.

Then she stopped.

"You are serious, aren't you?"

"I am very serious. She hasn't been asleep."

"Hi Terri! I heard you knock on the door but I was watching Spong…I was watching television and wanted to finish the show. It is nice to see you on this nice Saturday morning!" Rachel said quickly, and then hugged the woman.

"It is nice to see you, too, Kiddo." Terri said, her eyes wide as she looked at Shelby who was smirking and nodding.

Didn't believe me, did you Terri Shuester, Shelby thought to herself with a grin.

Rachel let Terri go and then turned so that she could face both women and started talking again.

"Last night we were going to have a dance party, but then everyone wanted to go to sleep. I am still not tired. I told them to get off their asses to…"

Rachel stopped mid sentence when she felt a firm swat to her behind. Her eyes grew wide. What had she done? Who had swatted her…

Her mom wasn't close enough to her…

"Aunt Terri swatted me!" Rachel said, her eyes wide, looking at her mother for back up.

Shelby looked at Terri, whose eyes were also staring at her, wide.

Shelby looked at Rachel and shrugged.

"I guess you need to watch your mouth near Aunt Terri as well, don't you? Be glad she got to you before I did."

In that moment, the moment Terri Shuester had swatted Rachel for cursing in front of her, and Rachel had called her Aunt Terri instead of plain old Terri, and in the moment when Shelby said the involuntary swat she had given Rachel was okay, Terri Shuester felt more like family than ever.

Rachel had called her Aunt Terri. Beth had been calling her that from the start…but something about Rachel calling her that solidified some things. She truly did have a larger family now.

And she loved it. Every single minute of it.

* * *

**AN: Hiya! I hope that you all liked this chapter...I felt like it was maybe kinda non-dramatic...lol Idk. i do drama better than anything else. **

**Let me know what you all thought:) Thanks:)**


	27. So Ya Had A Bad Grade

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: So Ya Had A Bad Grade**

Rachel did not crash until nearly noon Saturday. Shelby had been just about ready to scream. The other girls had gone home, not after a warming to each one of them if they ever thought about bringing sugar in her house again, and then they had all gone, duly chastised, to the cars that held their mothers.

Rachel had been amped up all morning, and Shelby knew that she was going to murder her child if she didn't get a nap. So, when she noticed that Rachel was finally falling asleep, she ushered the girl up to her room so that the two of them could take a nap. She had a feeling that Rachel wasn't going to be happy in two hours when the alarm would wake them both up, but Shelby wanted the girl to go to sleep early, not be unable to sleep because she slept off a sugar high all day.

It was a good thing they had headed upstairs, too, because when Shelby came out of her bathroom, Rachel was lying in the middle of the Shelby's bed, fast asleep.

Shelby sighed, and went over to the girl so that she could work to get her moved to one side. Shelby wanted sleep, and she wanted it right then. Thankfully, sleep came quickly, and for the next two hours, both Corcoran's slept like the dead.

Two hours later came much too soon to both of their likings, but Shelby forced Rachel out of bed, the latter who was complaining of a headache. Shelby snorted. Her child had a sugar hangover. Was that even possible?

"Go shower. Do not even think about lying back down. Shower and then come downstairs. You have to stay up until at least eight tonight. I will give you some Tylenol when you come downstairs."

Rachel had merely nodded and had then made her way to the bathroom so that she could shower. She couldn't remember everything that she and her friends had gotten into the night before, but she knew that it had been epic.

She stopped before she went into the bathroom when she saw her mom's cell phone and grabbed it up before her mom realized she had it. She wanted to text Quinn…she wanted to know everything that had happened last night. She remembered jumping on her mother…oh she was going to kill Beth!

With that thought, Rachel texted Santana…Rachel wanted to know how much of it was Beth's fault. Besides Quinn, Beth was the only one there last night that knew what she would do if she mentioned asking their mom to have a dance party.

Even so…that sleepover had been epic.

Downstairs, Shelby grabbed the cordless and hit speed dial number two, Leah. She had received a text from her sister while she and Rachel were sleeping, and she wanted to know what her sister wanted.

She had an idea.

She just hoped that she was wrong.

Just in case she wasn't though…

"Mom is staying with you!" Shelby said quickly into the phone when the other line was picked up. She heard Leah sigh on the other line.

"Leah Alexander! She stayed with me last time, so don't even think about trying to get out of it. I love our mother to death, my children love our mother to death, but the last time she stayed here, I thought that she and Rachel were going to come to blows when she told Rachel that she was too old to sleep in my bed with me and latch onto my shirt when she is upset or sleepy. It was like the breast feeding issue all over again, except this time Mom went after Rachel and not me. I love our mother, but she is nosy and I do not need her riling Rachel up after the last few months." Shelby told her sister.

"_Please, Shel, don't make me open my home to her! Come on…Rachel got over that…"_

"Yea, when Mom bought her a new Barbra CD that she wanted!"

"_The last time she stayed here she told James that he needed to man up and help clean up the house when he got home from work, not sit down. He had been working eighteen hour shifts!"_

"Rachel is fourteen, Leah! If I do not care whether Rachel seeks comfort by lying with me and holding onto my shirt, then neither should Mom! And, I still haven't told her about Will. I am sure that when she finds that out…"

Shelby stopped when she heard Leah gasp. It was almost silent, but Shelby heard it and her eyes narrowed.

"You didn't…" Shelby hissed in the phone.

"_Shel…now come on. It was an accident, I swear. I mean, it was when Rach was sick and you wouldn't answer her calls, and I finally just told her to stop trying right now because there was a lot on your plate…I might have accidently mentioned that Beth's biological father was in the picture now. Though, if it makes you feel better, I think Mom thinks you are sleeping with him, so I didn't tell her about Logan…"_

Shelby closed her eyes and sighed. Damnit.

"Leelee…I am going to kill you."

"_I am sorry, little sister! I swear. It was an accident. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to be angry."_

"I'm not angry…as long as Mom stays with you for Thanksgiving. And Christmas." Shelby smiled. She already knew that she had won this battle.

On the other line Leah sighed.

"_Fine."_

"Then no, I am not mad at you. But, I am going to hold this over your head for a long time. I didn't tell Mom when you got that huge tattoo on your back…and oh so obviously enticed my child to do the same."

"_You wouldn't!"_

Shelby laughed.

"Of course now. I don't want Mom to know that Rachel has a tattoo on her thigh and side anymore than you want Mom to know that you have one on your back. I don't want to listen to her lecture me about it."

"_Thanks, Shel. Well, obviously I have to go get the spare room ready." _Leah said, sounding put out.

"I know that you didn't expect me to give in. It is definitely your turn."

"_Yea, yea. I will talk to you later."_

"Bye, Leelee, little sister loves you." Shelby said sweetly.

"_Ha!" _Leah said from the other end just before Shelby heard a click.

Shelby was excited. She wouldn't have to put up with constant Mother drama during Thanksgiving. Score one for her.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel sat close to Jesse as they worked on their history projects together. They hadn't been getting to spend much time together recently, but Jesse's parents and Rachel's mom had both agreed to let them study together in the library that afternoon because Glee practice had been canceled.

They had been studying for two hours now, and only have five minutes left before Shelby was going to pick up Rachel. Jesse's mom was coming to pick him up a bit after that because they were having dinner with friends, so they would be able to leave directly from the library.

"I've missed you." Jesse said. He had gotten so many lectures about safe sex over the past two weeks, that he was positive he was going to die of boredom.

"I missed you too. I am so sorry that I got us in trouble." Rachel said, leaning into his side and then looking up so that she could sneak a kiss because the librarian was nowhere in sight.

They jumped apart when they heard someone clearing their throat.

Rachel looked up and immediately saw her mother.

"Hey, Mom!" Rachel said with a smile. Shelby did not return her smile.

"Come on, Rachel. It is time to go home."

Rachel looked at Jesse and shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea what was wrong with her mother. She and Jesse had only kissed. It hadn't even been a real one. Just lips, no tongue at all.

"I'll call you later." Rachel whispered.

"Don't count on it." Shelby said, holding the door open for Rachel to walk through.

"Mom! Why are you acting like this?" Rachel said, staring at Jesse apologetically. There was no way that this was about a simple kiss.

"We will talk about it in the car, Rachel." Shelby said, taking quick steps ahead of her daughter, her heels clicking down the hallway. Rachel was confused. She seriously had not done anything, so she didn't know why her mother was angry and upset with her.

They had had a good morning and a good weekend. What could have changed?

"Where is Beth?" Rachel asked. Normally her mother didn't leave her at After Play for this long.

"I had some grading to do, we are going to pick her up now. Buckle your seatbelt." Shelby told her. Rachel sighed and buckled up.

Rachel looked at Shelby as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel and backed up the car.

"What did I do?" Rachel asked Shelby, staring at her.

"We will talk about it after I pick up Beth and we go home."

"Gah, fine." Rachel said, sitting back and crossing her arms over her chest. Why did her mom have to be so stubborn?

"What your attitude!" Shelby hissed at her.

Rachel didn't say anything else. She merely looked out the window. She stared out the window until her Mom came out with Beth and was buckling her up in her booster seat.

When Shelby climbed back into the car, Rachel looked at her expectantly.

"Are you going to tell me yet? I don't even know what I did and you are acting like I murdered Aunt Judy or something!" Rachel told her mother. Shelby, who had started to back up at that point, slammed on the breaks and then grabbed her purse so that she could dig something out of it.

Rachel watched as her mother dug through her purse and finally pulled out an envelope and then pulled out a white sheet of paper from it.

She then thrust the paper in Rachel's hands.

Rachel picked up the piece of paper and studied it. She was confused. This could not be right. There was no way in hell that this was right!

"Mom! This isn't right! I swear there is no way I can have a 62 in History! Mom!" Rachel said. What the hell was going on? There was no way…

"So now I need to add lying to your tab? Because progress reports with D's and F's are the only ones which get sent to parents, and your teacher handed me that this morning. Personally."

"Mom! I swear I am not lying!" Rachel said, tears beginning to swell in her eyes.

"Save your tears, young lady. You are going to need them by the time we are done talking. I cannot believe that I was finally starting to trust you just a tiny bit after what you did two weeks ago, and then, low and behold, the only other class that you have with Jesse St. James besides my English class, you are failing. Not only that, but I caught the two of you kissing in the library while you were supposed to be working on a history project! I guess I am going to have to keep you under lock and key because this is ridiculous, Rachel Barbra Corcoran!"

Rachel felt the tears finally fall over her eyes.

"Mom, Mama…I swear! I know that I have to have a good grade in there! I do all my work and I turn it in and…"

"Stop with the excuses." Shelby said as she finally pulled into their driveway. Rachel unbuckled her seatbelt and then jumped out of the car. She didn't shut the door, but stood beside the car and leaned in and looked at her mother.

"You are being completely unreasonable! I don't understand why you can't trust me or at least sort of believe me!" Rachel yelled at her. Shelby froze from climbing out of the car and looked at Rachel.

"You haven't really given me a reason to trust you, Rachel. You are grounded and you can forget all about Regionals, because you will not be attending." Shelby told the insolent girl staring at her.

Rachel stared at her mother for a solid minute. She opened her mouth but Shelby stopped her.

"I would think very hard about the words that are fixing to come out of your mouth if you do not want to be in more trouble than you already are."

Rachel took a deep breath and glared at her mother, tears spilling over her cheeks.

"You are so unfair! I hate you!" Rachel yelled, and then ran up to the porch, digging her house key out of her bag so that she could get in the house before her mother and Beth got up to the house.

Shelby rolled her eyes. She wanted to shout out to Rachel that she needed to go straight to her room, but she knew that was where the girl was going, so there was no need. She was proved almost correct when she and Beth walked through the doorway at the same time a door slammed…the bathroom door. At this rate, Rachel was never going to get her own door back.

"You can go watch some television, Beth. I will fix you a snack."

Beth sighed, "That girl really needs to sort out her priorities." And then the little girl walked to the couch and sat down with the remote.

Shelby rolled her eyes as she went into the kitchen. Obviously her daughter didn't need to watch Harry Potter either. Beth remembered everything. That was what got her into trouble from the Jerry Springer show.

Upstairs, Rachel tore through her school things, leaving a messy trail of papers and pens and pencils and notebooks all over the floor. She didn't care. She was looking for a certain folder.

And then she found it. The entire semester, so far, of work that she had done in History. She marched to the top of the stairs and, looking to make sure that her mother was nowhere near, she threw the papers down the stairs and watched as they snowed down on the steps. Then she turned around and went back to her room, grabbing her bag, and then running down the stairs to Beth.

Beth had watched her sister throw the papers. Once upon a time she would have told on Sister, but she was almost six now, and Sister had gotten her out of trouble when she had broken that window.

"Beth." Rachel whispered. Beth looked up at her.

"Yea?"

"I am leaving. I am mad at Mom and I need time to calm down before she talks to me, or I know that I am going to get in more trouble. I am going to Aunt Terri and Uncle Will's…if Mom starts to get really mad, tell her. But not til she gets that look in her eyes…okay?"

"Sure thing, Sister. You better go before Mommy brings me my snack."

Rachel nodded and then kissed Beth's forehead and then hurried out the door.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel rang the doorbell and stood there, her bag over her shoulder. She wished that she had remembered a jacket because the later it got, the colder it got. It had taken her fifteen minutes to get her, and that was by cutting through peoples' yards.

The door swung open.

"Rachel, what are you doing here, Kiddo?" Terri said from the doorway. She opened it up wider and let Rachel walk in.

"I am not going home! My mom is being such a…" Rachel stopped when she saw Aunt Terri's eyebrow arch up.

"She is being unfair! She said that I can't compete at Regionals!"

"Rach, what is going on?" Terri asked, taking the bag from her. Will came to the doorway of the living room to see what was going on, Wilde in his arms, and Terri waved him off. They both knew that Rachel was not quite as comfortable with him yet as she was with Terri, and if Terri wanted the full story, she would have to talk to her alone. Though, Will did want to know what Shelby thought she was doing by taking Regionals away from Rachel…he was quickly formulating a plan to sneak her to the performance, all the while knowing that Shelby, Judy, and Terri would probably all kill him. He would probably be Rachel's favorite person in the world though.

"Let's go sit in the kitchen and talk, Rachel." Terri followed Rachel into the kitchen where Rachel sat at the table and laid her head on top of her arms.

"Okay, kiddo, tell me what is going on. Why can't you go to Regionals?"

"Mom! Mom is the reason! She won't listen to me. She said that I couldn't go because I got a D in History on my progress report! But I swear there is no way that I can have a D! She is blaming it on me and Jesse because it is the only class we have besides hers that is together, but I swear, Aunt Terri, my grade in there should be at least a B if not an A!"

Rachel burst into tears.

"Does your Mom know that you are here?"

"No!" Rachel hissed. Terri patted her arm and then lifted her chin.

"Rachel, you cannot just run off like that. It isn't safe. You have to tell someone where you are going." Terri reprimanded.

"I did tell someone. I told Beth and she is going to tell Mom when Mom get's the 'look' in her eyes."

Terri rolled her eyes. It really surprised her how much the older girls could let Beth talk them into. The little girl would only be six in January, so one would think that they would have better sense than that.

"You know that is not going to cut it. Let's call your mother and see if we can't get this mess straightened out."

Rachel sighed.

"Okay."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

The first thing that Shelby noticed when she walked back into the living room was the papers.

"What the hell." Shelby mumbled under her breath. She set Beth's peanut butter sandwich on the coffee table and started picking up the papers and looking at them as she did.

"What the hell indeed." Shelby said to herself as she looked at the papers she was gathering up. Shit, she thought.

She looked over at Beth who was watching her every move. She ignored it for now, and then went upstairs. She needed to talk to Rachel about these papers.

But Rachel was not in her room, the bathroom. Anywhere. Beth's look made more sense now.

Shelby walked down the stairs and went and stood in front of the little girl.

Beth looked up with wide, innocent eyes.

"Where is your sister?"

"She has been gone like ten minutes."

"Where did she go? She told you, didn't she?" Shelby knew her daughters, and knew them well. Rachel wouldn't want to get in anymore trouble, so she told Beth so that Beth could tell her when she started to get mad.

"I am already upset, so go ahead and tell me." Shelby told her. Beth sighed and looked up at her.

"She went to Aunt Terri's."

Shelby nodded. She went to grab the cordless phone and was just about to dial Terri and Will's number when the doorbell rand.

Shelby rolled her eyes. The doorbell always rang at the most inappropriate moments in this house.

She went and opened up the door.

"Hello, darling, I am so happy to see you! It has been much to long."

Great. Just great.

Her mother.

Then the phone rang.

Just great.

* * *

**AN: So, what did you think? This was a bit shorter than normal, but I felt that it needed to be cut there. The next chapter might be out tomorrow, but it may not be out til Friday or Saturday. I am not sure yet. The next two weeks are iffy because of Halloween and Homework lol. **


	28. When Grandma Came To Town

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: When Grandma Came To Town**

Terri was on the phone with Shelby and Rachel couldn't do anything but stare at the woman. She didn't want to talk to her mother. She didn't want to see her mother. She wanted to be left alone. She couldn't believe that her mother hadn't even tried to listen to her. It was so frustrating when her mother didn't listen to her!

"Sure, you can speak with her." Terri said. Rachel looked up at her and shook her head no. She didn't want to talk to her mother at the moment, thank you very much. Terri put the phone back up to her ear and said, "Shelby, give me one second."

Terri then looked down at the phone and muted it.

"Rachel, you are going to talk to your mother and you are going to listen to what she has to say. Else, I will stick you in a corner until you change your mind." Terri said, smiling sweetly.

How could her Aunt Terri smile like that while threatening to put her in the corner? It was kind of creepy.

Rachel sighed.

"Fine. I will talk to her."

"Good girl. Here you go." Terri said, taking the phone off mute and handing it to Rachel. Rachel sighed again and took the phone from her aunt.

"Hello."

"_Rachel, baby girl, I was worried!" _

"Well, I am fine."

"_Rachel, you cannot run off like that. I know that you were upset, and we will talk about that later, but you cannot just leave the house. What if someone would have grabbed you? I would have had no idea where you were. Rachel, I would never survive if something ever happened to you." _

It was left unsaid, but both knew who Shelby was talking about. They still had no idea where Leroy Berry was at, and while that remained true, no one wanted Rachel to be anywhere by herself in case Leroy Berry showed up again. Rachel hadn't thought about it, or she would not have left because the man frightened her.

"I'm sorry." Rachel said in a whisper.

"_Aunt Terri is going to bring you home. We can talk more then."_

"Mama, I swear that my grade isn't that bad. I know that you are upset with me, but I promise." Rachel started to tear up a little.

"_I know, Rachel. I saw all of your papers. The ones that you threw down the stairs. I am not angry with you anymore, Rach. I am not exactly happy that you left the house and walked to Will and Terri's, but I am not going to get onto you about it. If you do it again, though, I will have to punish you. I should have listened to you when you tried to tell me about your grade and at least looked at your papers…"_

"It is really frustrating that you wouldn't listen to me."

Shelby barely contained her laugh. Had Rachel really just said that to her?

"_Baby, now you know what I feel like every time I tell you something and you disobey me. I feel like you don't listen to me and then you make the same mistakes over and over. Yes, it is very frustrating. But Rachel, part of the reason that it was hard for me to listen to you is because you have not given me much reason to trust you over the last few months. You are working on it, but still…"_

Rachel started to cry then. She knew that her mother was right. She had done this. She was the reason that her mother no longer trusted her. It was all her fault.

"I am so sorry, Mama."

"_It is okay. I know that this was not your fault."_

"Am I still in trouble?" Rachel asked. She was looking down at the table she was sitting at and only looked up when a tissue was offered to her. She looked into Terri's eyes and gave her a sad smile. She took the tissue and wiped her eyes.

"_No, you are not in trouble. I still want to talk to you when you get home though. Aunt Terri is going to bring you home. Tell Will that I am not going to keep you from Regionals. I know that he is plotting on ways to sneak you out."_

Rachel laughed at this.

"Okay. I will tell him. I will see you in a little bit."

"_I love you, Rachel."_

"I love you, too, Mama."

Rachel hung the phone up and handed it back to Terri.

"Is everything all settled now, Kiddo?"

"Yea, Mom isn't mad at me anymore."

"You know that you can't run off like that, don't you?" Terri said, rubbing Rachel's arm.

"I know. I needed to get out. I knew that if I didn't leave that I was going to get into more trouble. I didn't want to be in more trouble than I already was because she had already taken Regionals away from me."

"Rachel, the next time that you have that feeling, the one where you feel like you need to get out before you get yourself into more trouble, call me instead of walking. I will always come and get, I promise."

Rachel nodded.

"You know that Will would come too."

"Mom told me to tell him that he can stop trying to figure out a way to sneak me to Regionals."

This caused Terri to burst into laughter. She found it hilarious mainly because she knew that was exactly what her husband was trying to figure out what to do right at that moment.

"He and Wilde are in the living room. Go tell him, and then I will take you home."

Rachel smiled at her and nodded. She stood up and went out the kitchen door and into the living room.

"Uncle Will! Mom told me to tell you that you can stop trying to plan my escape for Regionals! She has since come to her senses and realized that for once in her life she spoke before she thought. I am no longer in trouble at all, so Regionals is a go!" Rachel said with a wide smile.

Will just gaped at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words formed.

"Aren't you excited that you don't have to kidnap me now, Uncle Will?" Rachel asked, her hands on her hips now.

Will nodded.

Terri smirked.

"You…you called me Uncle Will." Will finally said.

Rachel moved her head to the side.

"Um…yea. Aunt Terri," Rachel pointed at Terri, "Uncle Will," Rachel pointed at Will, "little cousin Wilde," Wilde laughed when Rachel pointed towards her, "big cousin and niece Rachel." Rachel finally pointed at herself.

Will stepped forward and threw his arms around Rachel.

"That means a lot to me, Rachel. That you see me as an uncle. I will be an excellent uncle."

Rachel laughed.

"Okay. I know you will. Now, I guess Aunt Terri is taking me home. See you later, Uncle Will!"

Soon Rachel and Terri were in the car and Terri looked over at Rachel.

"Thank you, Rachel, so much."

"For what?" Rachel asked her, slightly confused.

"For allowing us to be part of your family so willingly. For opening your heart to three more people and allowing them to love you. You are a special girl, Rachel Corcoran."

Rachel blushed.

"There can never be too much love, Aunt Terri. Some people aren't nearly as lucky as I am, to have all this family and to know that I am loved. Even when I am upset or angry at someone, I know, deep down, that I am loved. I even knew it when I was angry with Mom for not telling me about the surrogacy. Some things you just know."

Terri simply smiled. As naughty as Rachel Barbra Corcoran could be, she was still wise beyond her years in some areas.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby was close to calling her sister and telling her to get her ass over to her house and pick up their mother. She didn't understand why her mother was here. The woman was supposed to stay with Leah. Apparently she didn't care. She was going to split her time equally between both households.

Shelby was ready to strangle her. She had already told her twenty different ways that she could keep her house cleaner than it was.

Shelby knew that her house was clean. And, even if it wasn't, what right did her mother have coming in and criticizing her?

Her mother had also mentioned Will. Shelby had really had to stop herself from telling her to shut up. It has taken her days of talking to Beth to help the little girl understand about Will and Frannie and Wilde. She did not need all of that undone by a few words from her mother.

"I am surprised that he didn't try to take Beth from you. After all, the girls biological mother tried that once."

Shelby rolled her eyes.

"Mom. Stop. Will is part of our family. He cannot legally take Beth from me, as Beth is legally my daughter."

"What about Rachel, running off like she hasn't a care in the world. I hope that you are going to discipline her appropriately, not let her hang onto your shirt and rub her hand over your stomach. I still cannot believe that you let her hang off of you like that still. She is nearly fifteen years old and you still let her act like a toddler when she is upset. It is ridiculous. I would have never let you or Leah act like that with me."

Shelby closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Believe me, I know that you would not have Leah or me seek comfort from you." Shelby snapped as she heard the front door open and then shut. Soon Terri and Rachel came through the doorway. She froze the moment she saw her grandmother, causing Terri to run straight into her.

"What are you doing here so early, Grandma?" Rachel asked sweetly.

Shelby knew better though. She could see Rachel's eyes held a mischievous glare.

Rachel then turned to her mother and walked over there, wrapping her arms around her and falling into her arms.

She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in her ear, "I am sorry that I ran off. I promise I won't do it again."

Shelby held her tighter and smiled into Rachel's hair.

Her smile nearly widened when she felt Rachel grab a hold of her shirt and move to her side so that she could look out at her grandmother and Terri.

"Aunt Terri told me next time just to call her. That she would just come get me." Rachel whispered.

"I'd much rather that, love. Hopefully, though, next time you and I will be able to talk it out before we become angry."

"So that is it, Shelby Elaine Corcoran? You are not going to discipline your child for running off and disobeying you? What kind of household are you running here? You let this woman and her husband waltz into your life like it is nothing and let them have access to Beth and Rachel as if they do not have ulterior motives! You just let Beth go and spend time in their home. It doesn't matter that he is her biological father, he shouldn't have anything to do with her. I have been telling you the same thing with those Fabray's! They never should have been part of your life. And not this woman is here…"

"Shut up, Grandma! That _woman_, as you insist upon calling her, has a name. _Aunt Terri_. Aunt Terri is a better person than you will ever be! You come in here, uninvited as it were because I know you were supposed to stay with Aunt Leah this time, and criticize my mom and my aunt and my family. You are a petty, jealous, old woman! If you weren't so freaking hateful, maybe we would be able to treat you as we treat them. There is a difference between you and Aunt Terri and Uncle Will and Aunt Judy and Uncle Russ…they love us for who we are, mistakes and all. They don't criticize us. If they punish me and Beth, we know it is for a good reason. You, though, if you were to touch me, I swear on all that is Barbra Streisand I would not let it happen without a fight. Because I don't respect you. You mess with our lives every time that you come here. You are an angry, horrible woman. You want Mom to treat Beth and me the way you treated her and Aunt Leah, well guess what, Grandma, Mom loves showing us affection. She loves the affection that we show her. And she loves that we have such a large, loving family. And you are just going to have to suck it up!"

Rachel yelled at her grandmother. She yelled all of the pent up rage that she felt at the older woman. The rage that she had held for a long time. For years. Because she knew that this woman had never shown affection to her mother, the same affection that Rachel thrived in, and the same woman who criticized the way her daughter was raising her own two daughters.

Terri was standing in the entrance against a wall, her arms crossed over her chest. She refused to be embarrassed by watching the scene in front of her unfold. Hell, the old hag had been talking about her as if she wasn't even there. The only reason that she hadn't said anything was because she hadn't wanted to hurt Shelby. But, honestly, it was even better watching Rachel give the old woman what for. It was apparent that Rachel had been watching the woman pass judgment on her mother for years.

Elaine Corcoran put her nose up in the air and huffed.

"Well, it is obviously that I am not wanted her. I shall see you all Thursday. I am going to your sister's."

"I love you, Mom, but I do think that that is best." Shelby said quietly.

Everyone watched as the woman walked out the front door. She hadn't yet brought her bags in. Shelby figured that her mother had expected that she wouldn't stay.

Suddenly, there was clapping coming from the living room. Terri, Rachel, and Shelby turned to the living room and watched as Beth stood in the middle of the couch and clapped her hands. She then put her hands on her hips and stared at the other three in the house.

"It is about time she left. She causes issues every single time that she is here. Jerry Springer would have a blast with that old bat!"

"Elizabeth!" Shelby scolded lightly. Beth only smiled and jumped down on her behind to finish watching cartoons.

Rachel turned to her mother.

"I am sorry that I yelled at her, Mom. But it is hard, listening to her talk about us and talk to you like that every single time that she is here."

Shelby smiled at her daughter.

"It is okay. You didn't say anything I didn't want to say but didn't have the nerve too."

"I have to give you some credit, Kiddo, you said all of that without one curse word. Kudos to you, girly!"Terri said with a gentle laugh. She may not have known Rachel as long as most, but she knew that when the girl was angry was when she was most like to use those words she wasn't supposed too.

Rachel smiled and leaned into her mother, holding the end of the shirt her mother wore and all.

Suck that, Grandma, Rachel thought, never letting the smile fall from her face.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

By Thursday, Shelby had Rachel's grade settled. Come to find out, her history teacher had been putting her grades into the computer wrong. It had mess up not only Rachel's grade, but the grades of five other students. Thankfully, since Shelby had told her about it, she was able to catch it before the other progress reports had been mailed out on Tuesday afternoon. The woman had apologized to Rachel several times for the mistake.

But now it was Thanksgiving. Leah had given Shelby a glare the moment she and her family plus their mother walked through the doorway on Thanksgiving. Shelby merely smiled. She knew that their mother had probably been fussing since Monday.

Everyone was at Shelby's house. The Fabray's, the Hummel's, the Shuester's, and all of Shelby's family. Judy, Terri, and Carole had all been at Shelby's home since eight that morning, helping with the cooking. It was Leah's job to babysit Elaine. It had not made the elder Corcoran sister happy, but she had also knew that she couldn't force their mother off on Shelby again so soon after what had happened. Not that Leah had foisted the infernal woman off on them Monday. She had planned that all her own.

After eating, everyone was scattered around the house. Quinn, Rachel, and Kurt were in Rachel's room. James, Will, Russ, Burt, and Finn were watching football in the living room. Elijah, Wilde and Beth were playing in Beth's room. Elaine had said she needed a nap, so she had gone back to Leah's, and the rest of the women were sitting around the kitchen table with cups of coffee in front of them.

"I am rethinking, Christmas, Shelby Corcoran. Mom has done nothing but fuss about how incorrigible your children are. Elijah has been avoiding her like the plague. And don't think that she didn't hear what Beth said after she walked out the door," Terri snorted, trying to keep her laughter inside, "and now she thinks that you put Jerry Springer on to keep your five year old entertained."

Shelby barely kept her own laughter in. She didn't like the fact that her kid had watched the stupid show at all, but it almost made it worth it because her mother thought she had willingly let her child watch it. Really? Her mother thought she was completely clueless. It had started when Rachel was born. Elaine Elizabeth Corcoran had never been an affectionate woman. Shelby had been six months pregnant with Rachel before the woman found out and then when Shelby told her that she was giving the baby up because she was a surrogate, her mother's only word to her was "good". It had hurt Shelby. When she had discovered that she was going to get to keep the infant, her mother had tried to sway her differently. What was a baby without a father? But, if her mother's had done nothing else, they had made Shelby want to be a much better mother than her own mother. And she thought she was. She hoped that she was. Every time her mother came in after Rachel was born, it was a fight about something. The worst had been when she had breast fed Rachel until Rachel was close to three. Her mother had not understood her need, her want, and the closeness it made her feel with Rachel, something that she had never really felt with her own mother despite the fact that she did love the woman. By then, Rachel only fed at bedtime, but Shelby had known that she would never get to share that bond with another child because she could have no more children. She had told her mother to fuck off.

Elaine hadn't talked to her for nearly a year except for a birthday card.

"I am sorry that you have to deal with that, Leah. She should have given me some warning before she got here though."

"True." Leah said. Shelby had at least called her and warned her that their mother was coming, two days early, and very angry on Monday after she had stormed out of Shelby's house.

Suddenly, the four women were surrounded by three teenagers. Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt surrounded Terri so quickly, it was like they had simply materialized.

"Aunt Terri! Aunt Terri!" Rachel said quickly. Shelby wondered if they had gotten into some candy somewhere.

"Rachel, Rachel. What can I do for you?" Terri asked, mimicking the fourteen year old good naturedly.

"Since Mom is having a sleepover here on the Saturday before Regionals for Beth, Wilde, and Amelia, do you think that we three could spend the night with you and Uncle Will? We asked Uncle Will a bit ago and he said he didn't care as long as it was okay with you." Rachel said excitedly. She had been wanting to spend the night with the Shuester's for a few weeks, and this was her chance…plus it would get her out of being at home with three little kids. That would not be fun in her book.

Terri smiled indulgently. What harm could it hurt?

"Sure, I don't mind. It will be fun."

The three teenagers smiled at one another.

"Thanks, Aunt Terri!" Rachel said, and then the three ran out of the room and up the stairs.

Terri turned to look around the table. All the women were giving her a sincere look….of sympathy.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad!" Terri said, reading their faces accurately.

Judy smiled.

"We have been through sleepovers. Tell us how you feel on Sunday afterwards." Judy told her, patting her hand.

"Remember, no sugar for Rachel. You saw her right before the crash the other day, it is worse in the beginning." Shelby said with a smile.

"You cannot let them watch scary movies either. You will not get a wink of sleep if you do." Carole added. She hadn't had as many sleepovers as the other women, but she had had a fair few.

"Ha, Kurt still thinks I am scary. They behave when they are with me." Leah said with a smirk.

"Except that time that they locked you out of the house." Shelby reminded her. Leah looked away. She had blocked that particular night out of her memory.

All the while, Terry was wondering what exactly she had gotten herself into. It was only a simple sleepover after all….wasn't it?

* * *

**AN: So...I am not sure if this was the best it could have been, but hopefully it is okay. I am not sure that I got my point acrossed about why Shelby and Leah love their mother but don't particularly like her. Rachel doesn't much like her at all, though i did not know until I wrote the scene between them lol. **

**Hope you enjoyed. Please let me know what you thought:)**


	29. Will and Terri's Ultimate Sleepover

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Will and Terri's Ultimate Sleepover**

Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt were all very excited. They were all packed and waiting at the Corcoran house for Will and Terri to pick them up while they dropped off Wilde with Shelby. It was a Saturday night and the trio had also gotten permission to go to a get together with some of their school friends that was two blocks away from the Shuester's home as long as they were back by the time specified by Will and Terri.

They didn't have to wait long, as Will and Terri along with Wilde, were ringing the doorbell soon and Shelby was opening the door to let them in. Shelby was thankful that they had arrived. The big kids were about to drive her nuts asking when they would arrive just as much as Beth was asking when Wilde would be there. Amelia was already there, so at least Beth had been somewhat entertained.

"I am so glad that you are here to get them. They are about to drive me insane." Shelby told the two as they walked in the door.

Will and Terri laughed. Rachel had already texted Terri twice to make sure that they were still getting to go home with them.

Shelby motioned for Terri to follow her into the kitchen while Will was talking to Wilde. Once there, Shelby turned.

"Are you sure that you don't mind keeping all three of them, Terri? They may be teenagers, but they have a way of finding mischief like no one I have ever seen before. I am not going to even begin to try to explain it because I can't."

"Shelby, they will be fine. Will and I are not pushovers…well, I am not a pushover. I have a feeling that Rachel could get Will wrapped around her finger in no time."

Both women laughed and Shelby shook her head.

"Terri, remember not to let her have a lot of sugar. I will warn you so that you can't blame me later." Shelby said with a laugh. Shelby knew that Terri remembered the tail end of Rachel's last sugar binge.

"Of course. I will make sure that there is virtually no sugar involved." Terri laughed.

Before long, the kids were all packed into the back of Terri's SUV, and Terri and Will were hugging and kissing Wilde. Shelby could tell that it was the first time that they had left the little girl since they had gotten custody of her.

Shelby thought that both of them were going to cry as she walked them to the door and Beth, Amelia, and Wilde all ran up the stairs towards Beth's room.

Shelby looked at Terri and Will and smiled.

"She will be fine. If she wakes up and wants to go home, I will call you. I think she will be fine, though. She has Beth, and we all know how much she loves Beth."

"It is the first time that she has spent away from us since we've had her." Terri sniffed.

Shelby smiled and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around the slightly younger woman.

"She will be fine. You just make sure my baby doesn't drive you insane tonight."

Terri laughed and wiped the tear that had slipped down her face away.

"We will take care of your baby too. We will see you in the morning."

Shelby smiled and nodded.

Soon, the Shuester's were out the door. Shelby just hoped they were ready for the trouble trio. She wasn't quite sure that anyone was ever adequately prepared for them though.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Terri showed the three kids into the guest room where a queen sized bed for Quinn and Rachel and a full size blow up mattress for Kurt sat. All three kids were a bundle of energy, something that Will, who was with them for several hours every day of the week, had never seen. He could tell they were excited and he really didn't understand why. They were just going to spend the night with him and Terri and then they were going to a party that they had to be home from by eleven…unless they could talk Will and Terri into letting them stay out later.

"Terri, what are we going to fix for supper? You know Rachel is sort of picky…" Will said, looking in the fridge.

"I do know that. And I also know that it has to be something that you will eat like a normal human being. Judy told me that Rachel all but throws up at every meal because you passed that ridiculous gene onto Beth." Terri laughed a little. It really amazed Terri just how genetics worked. Her husband had definitely passed his atrocious eating habits down to his biological daughters. At the same time though, Beth, who had grown up in the Corcoran home, reminded Terri so much of Rachel sometimes that it was scary. Especially when the five year old wanted to get her way. Sometimes, Terri felt bad for Shelby simply because she knew that the two girls together were a handful.

Terri had a feeling that Wilde was going to be right up there with them when she came out of her shell a bit more. Right now she had only lived with Will and Terri for a little over a month, and there were times that Terri and Will both knew that she forgot where she was. They didn't make her talk about her time with Frannie, but sometimes, late at night when she woke up and was still tired, Wilde would mention things that had occurred during her short four years. Apparently they had moved around a lot and Frannie always had a different boyfriend. The Shuester's were very thankful that they could provide their daughter with a stable home now. They could see that she was thriving under the conditions. She was gaining weight and she was happier. That was all they could ask for.

"Aunt Terri!" Rachel yelled through the house. Will laughed at the look on Terri's face.

"Love, she is loud, you knew that." Will said, still hanging off of the refrigerator door.

"Will, you are going to mess up the door and then where will we be? You will be going out and purchasing another one."

Will shook his head and smiled. They had this argument every time he opened the fridge.

"You better go see what Rach wants, Love. She will be storming in here in a bit."

"Maybe we can order take out." Terri said. She was pretty sure all of the kids liked Chinese food, and she and Will also liked it. And, Will didn't mix anything weird into his Chinese food. Wilde did though. Terri shuttered thinking about the last time they had eaten Chinese and the little girl had asked for the soy sauce and ketchup…yes, Terri would rather not think about it.

"Aunt Terri!" Rachel yelled again. Terri rolled her eyes when she heard the other two laugh. What in the world were they doing?

"Will, how about Chinese? You can find the take out menu while I go see what they are doing." Terri said. Will nodded.

Will loved how big his family had gotten. He was not used to a big family but had always wanted one. He had been nervous at first because three of the kids that were obviously in this new, extended family, were in his glee club. But, he soon learned that they were not necessarily the same kids in school that they were out of school. He and Shelby had talked about it in the break room one day not long after Quinn had slushied Rachel.

Shelby had told him that she had noticed how different the kids acted at home versus school as well. She said that she had come to the conclusion that it was because of the hierarchy of high school. Kurt hung out with the same kids he had throughout elementary school for the most part, Quinn wanted to be popular, and Rachel beat to the tune of her own drum regardless of what others wanted of her. She hadn't been getting hit with any more slushies as far as any of the adults could tell, but Shelby had told Will that she would not sit by and let it happen. She wouldn't sit by and let it happen to any of the kids at that school.

At home, though they were different. They were still just kids. All of the adults could tell that they were trying to grow up in out in public, but still wanted to cuddle at home. They were at a fine line in their lives where they didn't really know what they wanted.

Out in the living room, Terri was walking towards the kids. They were in the guest room, where Rachel had yelled for her three times now. She went to the room and walked in, staring at the mess before her.

Their overnight bags had obviously exploded. Terri automatically caught sight of the large bag of candy that was in one of the bags. She leaned forward and grabbed the bag and then looked at all three kids.

"Do not even think about it," Terri started, "I got the pleasure of meeting sugar high Rachel at the sleepover the girls had a couple weeks ago. I also know that Santana and Beth talked Rachel into jumping on her mother in the middle of the night. I am not nice in the middle of the night, so I will not be happy if that happens to me." Terri eyed each of them carefully.

Each of the kids backed up a bit. Good. She wanted them to have a healthy fear of her because she knew that Will was already half twisted around their fingers.

"Um…Aunt Terri, you can have it." Rachel said, the other two nodded quickly.

Terri smiled.

"Why thank you. Now, what was it that you bellowed through the house for?"

"Um…" Rachel stood in place but moved around a bit nervously now that Terri was right in front of her.

"Rach…"

"We were wondering if maybe we could stay out tonight until midnight…I mean, Mom and Aunt Judy and Uncle Burt told you and Uncle Will that you were both in charge of our curfew…"

"Rachel." Terri said, looking at the girl.

"Aunt Terri…"

"No. You can all be home by eleven. That is a bit later than I would like you to be out anyways. You can thank your Uncle Will for that. He said eleven. Rachel you are still only fourteen, and Quinn, Kurt, you are both only fifteen. I think eleven is plenty late enough, now come on. We are going to order Chinese take out."

Terri turned and left the room, but not before she heard Rachel whisper, "Maybe we should have asked Uncle Will first, I thought for sure she would give in."

Terri just shook her head and smiled and then went to threaten Will within an inch of his life if he told those kids they could stay out past eleven.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"What time are you guys going to be home?" Will asked. He had been duly threatened several hours ago, and now he was dropping the kids off. They were going to walk back. Since it was only two blocks away and they were all together.

"Eleven, Uncle Will." Quinn said with a huge smile. She hadn't called him that yet, but with Rachel calling him Uncle Will, it was quickly catching on. Will smiled.

"Terri and I will be waiting up. Stay out of trouble and call us if you need anything." Will said. The girls climbed out of the car and Kurt turned around.

"Thank, Uncle Will! See you at eleven!"

Will drove all the way home with a huge smile on his face.

Rachel, Kurt, and Quinn looked at one another and smiled as Will drove off. They had been waiting on this party for over a month and they had all, barely, managed to stay out of trouble long enough to go to it. They were all super excited. It was an upperclassman, one who was popular for unknown reasons, probably because he liked everyone and he always had wild parties because he was in no clubs and was on no teams. No one really new. It just was.

The three went up to the house and through the door quickly. It was cold outside and they could hear the music. Both Quinn and Rachel were ready to dance. Kurt was ready to check out the people. Kurt was a people watcher and that was usually how he managed to know the dirt on everyone before they knew it themselves.

"Guys, there is Mercedes, I am going to go say hi. I will meet up with you guys later…out front at fifteen til eleven if not before then." Kurt said and hurried over to Mercedes. While Mercedes was okay, neither Quinn nor Rachel were huge fans of hers, but Kurt and Mercedes were almost as close of friends as Kurt, Rachel, and Quinn were.

"Let's dance, Rachel!" Quinn said, grabbing her Rachel's hand and pulling her into the middle of the dance floor.

For the next couple of hours, the two girls lost sight of Kurt and danced. They were joined by Santana, who was drinking from a red solo cup.

"Here, have a drink of the punch, it is awesome!" Santana said, handing the cup to Rachel. Rachel took a drink of it.

Yea, it was definitely awesome.

It was also about ninety percent alcohol and the rest juice.

"Damnit, Santana! That is alcohol! I can't drink that! Aunt Terri will figure it out the minute we step through the door." Rachel said just as Quinn was taking a drink from the cup.

Quinn nearly spit it out, but swallowed it. She handed the cup back to Santana who literally gulped the last of it.

"She is drunk." Rachel said, her eyebrows raised up.

"Rachie! Don't do that. You remind me of your mom! Badass Corcoran…no one is as scary as she is…she doesn't care who she is. She threatened me and Brit-Brit when we spent the night with you if we tried to sneak off and have sex. I don't know where Brit went off too…I think she went home an hour ago." Santana said. She and Brittney had been together, but Brittney's mom had told her she had to be home at ten, so the girl had left a bit before that. Brittney had told Rachel and Quinn bye as she was leaving.

"Santana, you have to stop drinking." Quinn said, going over to the girl because she had just grabbed a beer off of the table with all of the refreshments on it.

"Let's dance!" Santana said, now chugging the beer down. She grabbed Rachel's arm and then started dancing with her.

Soon, it was fifteen until eleven and despite the fact that more and more kids were showing up, Quinn and Rachel knew that they had to meet Kurt outside.

"Rachel, we cannot leave Santana here. She is trashed. She will never get home by herself. More than likely she will get herself into some sort of trouble. She has already been eyeing Felix Matthews…she will start making out with him the minute we leave if we don't take her with us." Quinn said. She had been watching Santana, mainly to keep an eye on her so that she didn't do anything stupid. Quinn couldn't just leave her. She wouldn't have left Rachel either. It came with the territory of being the oldest in the group, she supposed.

"What are we going to do with her?" Rachel asked. She wasn't sure that she wanted to take a drunk Santana into Will and Terri's house and parade her around in front of them. She also did not want to leave her here.

"Maybe we can sneak her in through the window in the guest bedroom. We can go in and leave her outside the window, and then when we go into the bedroom, we can help her climb in. It is a one story house, so it shouldn't be hard." Quinn suggested.

Rachel nodded.

"Yea, that will work. Come on. It is already ten til, and we still have a ten minute walk." Rachel said. Together, the two of them pulled Santana along with them.

"Where we going? Are we going to party more?" Santana asked.

"Yes, Santana. But this party is special. You have to be really quiet." Quinn told her as they met with Kurt.

"Guys! We have to… what is that? What are we supposed to do with her?" Kurt asked, pointing at Santana.

Santana was drunk enough that she was pretty much doing whatever Quinn told her, thankfully, except she was still being rather loud.

"We can't leave her here. Brittney left over an hour ago." Quinn said.

"We are going to sneak her in through the window. She can leave when she sobers up." Rachel said, shrugging her shoulders.

Kurt looked at them like they were insane.

"Well, we have about five minutes to make it back to their house…"

"Oh shit!" Rachel said, and grabbed Santana's hand to pull her along with them.

They knew before they walked half way down the street, that they were not going to make it back to Will and Terri's on time because Santana was talking and laughing and causing all kinds of fuss.

"Santana, if you get me grounded…" Kurt hissed, grabbed her arm and pulling her along. Nearly fifteen minutes later they were finally at the house and Quinn was forcing Santana to sit on the ground below the window of the guest room.

Rachel finally walked over to the latina and stared at her.

"Damnit, Santana! Sit the fuck down! We are already late because of you!" Rachel hissed. Rachel was tired and she knew that sometimes people had to be harsh with Santana to make her listen.

Thankfully, it worked, and Santana sat down mumbling a "Geeze, okay, Corcoran," as she did so.

"Okay, let's go. Santana, don't you dare move!" Quinn hissed.

The trio went to the front door, Rachel pulled out the key that Terri had given her earlier and unlocked the door as quietly as possible.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Fifteen minutes later." Terri said, her hands on her hips. She wasn't really mad, but she figured that she had to at least act tough in front of them for a bit so that they would not do the same in the future.

"We are sorry, Aunt Terri. We left at five minutes til, and it just took us longer to get here than we thought." Rachel sniffed. She figured that she might as well pull out her acting tears.

What she didn't expect, however, was Aunt Terri not falling for them.

"Rachel Corcoran, get yourself into that bedroom and go to bed. All three of you. And do realize, kiddo, that I know the difference between real and fake tears."

Rachel's eyes widened and she ran towards the bedroom closely followed by Quinn and Kurt.

"So, do you think that we are going to get away with being late?" Quinn asked as she opened the window gently and popped the screen out.

"Hopefully. Santana, stand up." Rachel said quietly.

Santana stood up and start laughing when she fell over into the flowers that were under the window.

"Someone is going to have to go out there and hoist her up, or she is never going to get in here." Kurt said.

Rachel sighed. She knew automatically that he meant her because she was the smallest one, and they would need to pull Santana up. The window was a bit high for the first floor, so it was going to be hard to get Santana up through it.

"Fine." Rachel said. She took her sweater off so that she didn't snatch it on anything, leaving her only in her tank top. It was way too cold for this, but she was not ruining that sweater. Her mom had just bought it for her like the week before.

With the help of Quinn and Kurt, she was lowered to the ground. She then helped Santana up and pushed her towards the window where Kurt and Quinn were hanging half out of the window so that they could grab Santana's arms.

The minute they grabbed her arms though, Santana fell back, knocking Rachel onto the ground and underneath her.

"Damnit, Santana! Come on! You have got to help us out a little bit! Shit that hurt!" Rachel said. Santana had knocked the air out of her lungs and had caused her to scrape her arm. It was not bleeding all over her tank top from the cut that was not there.

"Sorry, Rachie. I feel sick…"

Santana then leaned over and vomited in the bushes.

"What is going on?"

Rachel froze. She slowly looked up into the eyes of both Will and Terri.

She sighed.

"Hi…"

"Don't 'hi' us. Go around to the front door and I will let you in while Will puts the screen back on the window." Terri said.

Rachel grabbed Santana's arm again and pulled her with her.

"Don't you dare throw up on me." Rachel warned her.

Soon they were in the house, Terri standing over all four of the teenagers, one who was practically passed out at the end of the couch.

"We couldn't leave her at the party." Quinn whispered.

"You should have told us that she was here, Quinn Fabray. She has obviously had way too much to drink and she needs to be watched so that she does not choke on her own vomit while she is sleeping. Anything could have happened."

"I am sorry, Aunt Terri." Rachel said, holding her arm against her tank top.

"Rachel, go into the kitchen so that we can get your arm cleaned up; Kurt, Quinn, go get ready for bed. Santana is going to sleep on the couch so that Will and I can keep an eye on her."

The three kids went their separate ways. Rachel walked into the kitchen, where the light was shining, and sat at the table.

Her mom was going to be so upset with her.

Her mom. Rachel stood up and pulled her phone out of her pocket and hit her mom's number. She really wanted to talk to her mom before Aunt Terri called her.

It rang four times before Shelby picked up.

"_Rach? Baby, why are you calling so late?"_

Rachel burst into tears.

"I am sorry, Mama." Rachel said.

"_Rachel, sweetheart, what is wrong?"_ Shelby sounded wide awake now.

"We didn't mean to be late…Santana…and then the window…and then she fell on me….arm….cut….Aunt Terri…" Rachel sobbed as she talked to her mother on the phone, making no sense to Shelby.

Rachel suddenly felt the phone being taken from her and watched Terri put the phone to her ear as she sat down at the table and took Rachel's arm in her own and wrapped a damp towel around it so that the towel could catch the blood that was still trickling down Rachel's arm.

"Shelby, everything is fine. I think that Rachel just wanted to tell you what happened tonight before I had a chance because she was afraid that she was in trouble."

"_What happened? She is upset. Do you need to bring her home?"_

"No, she is okay. They were fifteen minutes late, but that wasn't a big deal. They did try to sneak in a very drunk Santana in the house and Santana fell on Rachel and cut her arm pretty good, but we are fixing to clean that up so that she can go to bed. Everything is fine. Will and I are going to talk to them in the morning. I am not really sure what to do with Santana. I don't have her mother's number. She is passed out on the couch right now. Will and I are going to watch her for the rest of the night."

"_I will call Maribel and tell her that Santana is at your house. Maribel and I are well versed in the misdeeds of Miss Santana Lopez, though I this is a first. Thank you, Terri."_

"It is no big deal. We will talk more in the morning. I am going to clean Rachel's arm and then send her off to bed."

"_Give her a hug and a kiss from me, please Terri. She is going to be upset regardless. That is just how Rachel works."_

"No problem. See you in the morning."

Soon, Terri hung up the phone and set it on the table and looked at Rachel.

"Kiddo, stop crying. I am not going to kill you."

Rachel blushed.

Terri stood up and went to the cabinet next to the fridge and pulled out peroxide and bandaids. She sat back in front of Rachel and took Rachel's towel wrapped arm in her hands.

"Are you really mad?" Rachel asked.

"Nope. I am not really mad. I wish that you guys would have told me that Santana was with you. We would not have turned her away. WE would have done just as we are doing now." Terri said.

"Thanks, Aunt Terri." Rachel said.

Terri cleaned up Rachel's arm and then wrapped gauze around it because she didn't have a bandaid big enough to cover the cut. It was a rather large one, though just shallow enough that it didn't need stitches, thankfully.

"Okay, Kiddo, time for you to get changed and into bed. You probably should throw that tank top away as well." Rachel nodded and shed the shirt she had on.

"Rachel!" Terri said.

Rachel looked up at her, confused.

"What?" It was nothing for her to walk through her house in only a bra…

"Kiddo, you can't do that here. This is not a house full of just girls. Stay in here and I will grab you a shirt.

Rachel blushed again when she realized that this was, indeed, the house that Will lived in.

Terri was back soon and handed a shirt to Rachel. It was one of Shelby's shirts and it smelled like Shelby. Rachel breathed in the scent.

"I always miss my mom when I spend the night away from her. Does that make me sound like a little kid?" Rachel asked.

Terri wrapped her arms around Rachel and kissed her head.

"No, Kiddo, it doesn't make you a kid. Your mom told me to give you a hug and a kiss. Now, why don't you head onto bed, and we will all talk in the morning. Okay?"

"Okay." Rachel said, and then hugged Terri back.

Soon, everyone was in bed except Will and Terri who was sitting on Will's lap on the love seat near where Santana was passed out.

"I hope this is not an every weekend thing." Terri whispered.

"Ha. Next time we are taking Beth and Wilde. Shelby or Judy can have the Terror Trio."

Both laughed lightly. They both knew that they would never deny those three from coming into their home.

* * *

**AN: Hey guys:) I hoped that you all liked this chapter. **

**Also, I have posted a new story, a Halloween story, three chapters, that is in this verse when Rachel is nine. Check it out:)**

**Let me know what you think about this chapter:)**


	30. Uncontrolled Chaos

**Chapter Thirty: Uncontrolled Chaos **

Rachel woke up with a start at four in the morning. The first thing that came to her was that she was probably in so much trouble for coming home fifteen minutes late and trying to sneak in Santana through the window. Her conversation with her mother was completely forgotten.

She crawled over Quinn, who was softly snoring, and walked out of the room to find her mother. She needed her mother.

It was not until she walked into the living room where Will and Terri were lying half asleep on the love seat that Rachel remembered in her half asleep daze that she was not even at her house and her mother was not here.

She walked quietly over to Will and Terri, looking over at Santana for only a moment, and poked Terri's shoulder.

Terri sleepily opened her eyes and looked up at Rachel.

"Rachel, sweetie, what is wrong?" Terri said. She could tell that Rachel was half asleep, as the girl could barely keep her eyes open.

"I need to talk to my Mom. I don't want her to be mad at me for last night." Rachel mumbled and then crawled in Terri's lap. This caused Will to wake up since Terri's legs had been thrown over his lap, and he felt the extra weight of Rachel.

"Rachel, sweetheart, your mom is not mad. She told you that earlier." Terri said, moving the girl around so that she would be in a more comfortable position.

"No, she is mad. I saw it in my dream." Rachel said as her eyes closed and her head nodded over to the side to rest on Terri's shoulder.

Terri rubbed Rachel's back.

"Rachel, I think that you had a bad dream."

"Mama said that I was grounded to Mars. But I don't know how I am gonna get there. I think that is far off."

Terri and Will both stared at Rachel for a few moments. Both were trying not to laugh at the half asleep girl.

"Mama also told me not to let Santana in the house without the chickens ever again."

"Terri, why don't you try to get her to lay back down?" Will whispered. He was having a really hard time not laughing at the fourteen year old in front of him. Whatever dream she had been having had seemed real to her.

"No. Don't wanna lay with Quinn. She kicks and snores. She kicked the chicken. I wanna stay with Aunt Terri. She saved the chicken so Uncle Will wouldn't eat it with biscuits. There was a leash." Rachel's said as her eyes finally shut all the way.

Terri looked at Will and smiled wide. Despite the fact that both Shuesters were incredibly tired, this was hilarious.

"Maybe she will lay in our bed? You could get some sleep too. Shelby and Maribel are supposed to be here at ten. Judy is going to be here not long after that. I will watch Santana, though I think she is going to be fine. At least until she wakes up. I'll start cooking breakfast at around nine thirty so that the kids can start waking up then."

"Are you sure, Will? I don't mind sitting here with Rachel. You could get some sleep."

"No. Go ahead and take Rachel in there and get some sleep."

Terri wasn't going to argue anymore. Rachel was asleep in her lap and her legs were already starting to fall asleep. They would fair much better in a bed than on the love seat. She gently woke Rachel and got her standing so that she could stand too.

Rachel leaned heavily against her aunt and started talking again.

"Are we going to go walk the chicken now?"

Terri laughed.

"No, kiddo. We are going to go to bed."

"But…Quinn kicks and snores."

"You can lay with me, Rachel. Come one. Will, I love you. See you in a couple hours." Terri said, pulling Rachel towards her bedroom.

Will shook his head. "Love you, too, Terr."

It was times like these that he wondered what in the world had he gotten himself into with this family.

But it was also times like these when he knew that he would not change anything. He was part of something so much bigger than the duo relationship he and Terri had. Both of their families, while alive, were not constants in their lives.

But the family they had now…it was very constant. Will loved everything about it. He loved Rachel's mischievousness that Beth was picking up more and more of everyday and that would, no doubt, start showing up in Wilde the more that the girls spent time together. He loved Quinn's seriousness, but the fact that Rachel was always able to lead her into trouble. Even Kurt, who he had not realized was such a large part of the family until recently, had grasped parts of his heart with his assuredness. He loved that Rachel and Kurt had big dreams centered on Broadway and acting, and he loved that Quinn had lesser known dreams of going to Princeton and becoming a lawyer.

He loved Beth and her angelic smile. He loved Wilde and her halo of curls.

He loved all of them, and it was times like these that told him why.

He stood up and walked to the doorway to his bedroom and looked in. Terri was already asleep, as was Rachel, who was curled into her side and clutching a blanket in her hand.

Will smiled and went back to the couch and watched Santana breath in and out for a couple of seconds before he laid down.

He silently wondered in the drunken latina was going to become part of their family too…and that he really was not sure he could handle.

Then he just laughed to himself.

He knew that in a couple of hours, a circus was going to break out in his house.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Santana Lopez, get your behind up this instant!" a loud voice rang through Santana's head like a bolt of white hot lightening on speed. She could feel something nudging at her, but whatever it was, she was hoping that it would give up soon. She couldn't open her eyes. They both felt like they had ten pound weights on them.

Why the hell did she feel like this?

"Santana Lopez, I am not going to tell you again, mi nina!"

Holy shit. That was her mom. Why was her mom yelling at her while she was trying to sleep?

Suddenly, images started flooding back to her. She remembered drinking at a party. She remembered Rachel and Quinn and Kurt. She remembered a window.

Oh. She had fallen on Rachel too. She should probably tell her that she was sorry about that.

Where was she though?

"Leave me be." Santana whined, burrowing her head in her right arm and swinging her left arm around like she was swatting at a fly.

It was probably not the best thing to say or do since she was lying on her stomach, and she knew how her mother could get when the woman was upset with her.

She sat upright after she felt two, hard, stinging swats hit her behind. She sat up so fast, in fact, that it was a good thing her mother knew her well and shoved a waste basket under her mouth because she automatically threw up.

By the time that Santana was able to look up (and it was way too bright to be looking anywhere, mind you) she was looking into the angry eyes of her mother. Behind her mother, Shelby Corcoran was standing with her hands on her hips.

She didn't recognize this house though. This living room. Where was she?

"Where am I" Santana mumbled, rubbing her head with both of her hands.

"You, young lady, are at Mr. Shuester's home. Your friends, and you are damn lucky to have such good friends, brought your sorry behind home with them because you were too drunk to find your own way home, where, I might add, you were supposed to be last night. Friends who didn't leave you at a party to make stupid mistakes. I am very disappointed with your actions. Do you even realize how much trouble you are in for this little stunt?"

Santana wanted to roll her eyes. Oh she wanted to roll her eyes so badly.

But, she loved life and wanted to continue living as long as possible, and, since her mother looked like she might want to kill her soon, Santana didn't want to take any chances. Santana knew that her mother was upset. Maribel Lopez let her daughter get away with more that Santana would ever realize, but when the older Lopez woman was mad, she was mad, and absolutely nothing would or could change her mind. And Santana knew there was no escaping punishment. She was truly going to be in a lot of trouble for this one. She may have been drunk before, but her mother had never found out about it. She wasn't stupid. The most that her mother had ever found out about concerning parties that Santana went too was the one where the infamous video got more than half the kids at school grounded. Santana had gotten grounded because she had snuck out to go to that party…and her outfit had been a tad bit inappropriate, according to her mother anyways.

"I asked you a question, Santana Lopez!"

"Si, Mami." Santana whispered, and then promptly threw up again.

Maribel Lopez shook her head.

"When you are done there, Santana Lopez, Mr. and Mrs. Shuester have kindly offered you the use of their bathroom so that you can shower and get out of the clothes that you are currently in. And don't worry, mi nina, I will go in the bathroom with you to turn on the shower."

Santana looked up at her smiling mother. Most might think that the woman was being genuinely helpful and that her smile was sincere.

Santana cringed. If vipers held the same smiles right before they struck, they would get to bite a lot more people.

Santana wasn't stupid. That type of smile only came right before her mother truly made her regret her bad decisions. Santana sighed. Of course her mother wouldn't just take her home. That would be too easy.

This…this was going to suck.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Rachel glared at Logan from across the table as she ate the pancakes that Will was pretty quickly putting in front of her, Quinn, Kurt, Wilde, and Beth. Thankfully there were only pancakes, despite the fact that Beth had whined that she needed her three scrambled eggs. Rachel was glad that her mother had told Beth to eat what was placed in front of her and not worry about eggs because Will was already cooking for a lot of people and didn't need to add anything else to his list. Secretly, Shelby knew that Will could not cook much. Pancakes were one of the only things he could cook, along with a few other, select dishes. Apparently, according to Terri, he could not cook eggs at all, no matter how he wanted to eat them. Since Rachel hated the way Beth ate pancakes and eggs, she was just glad that her mother had said no. It was disgusting when Beth ate them in the syrup and butter.

Beth had asked why Aunt Terri couldn't fix them for her, but she was in the shower after the long night before, leaving Will alone in the kitchen for now.

Rachel was also not happy that Shelby had picked Logan up after dropping off Amelia at her home. Why had she brought him? He was not wanted here. He was not part of their family.

Quinn was watching Rachel out of the corner of her eye. She could tell that Rachel didn't like Logan. Quinn hadn't really spent enough time with him to know whether she liked him or not, but he definitely wasn't the type of man her father or Uncle Will was. It was like he was afraid of them half the time. Quinn knew that Beth was not overly fond of him either.

Quinn nudged Rachel, effectively bringing the girl out of her own little world, and nodded towards the room they had shared most of the night until Rachel had woke up from her dreams and went in search of her mother. Rachel had only been slightly embarrassed that morning when she woke up and realized that she was sleeping curled up next to Aunt Terri. Terri had told her not that it was no big deal, causing Rachel to smile shyly and tell the woman thank you.

Rachel nodded and followed Quinn. She wanted to get changed out of her pajamas anyways. Then she wanted to go home. She could hear Mrs. Lopez getting onto Santana, too. It was awkward, mainly because Rachel was not used to Mrs. Lopez. But, she only slightly felt sorry for Santana. The cut on her arm had made her arm sore today, and she knew that she was going to have to put up with her mom cleaning it and bandaging it up for several days to come. That kinda made up for any feelings of sorry that she had for Santana getting yelled at by her mother.

The two girls walked into the bedroom, leaving the door cracked part way, and walked over to the bed to sit.

"What is wrong, Rach?"

Rachel looked over at her friend and sighed.

"He is always around and I don't like him. I mean, seriously. My mom can do so much better than him." Rachel said, playing with the hem of her shirt.

Quinn didn't say anything. She had never had to deal with not having her father around or having her mother date. Her parents were happily married. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what Rachel was going through.

Not that she particularly liked her Aunt Shel dating someone that Rachel didn't like. Beth didn't care for him either. He just didn't really seem kid friendly. Not at all. In fact, he seemed to hide from them every time he was around them.

Quinn stood up and started to change her clothes. She was just pulling up her jeans when Rachel looked up at her and smiled.

"Let me see it again." Rachel grinned.

Quinn rolled her eyes and held up her shirt.

"Quinn! What the hell is that? Shelby!"

Quinn, still holding her shirt up, was startled when she heard Will's voice. She froze completely.

Will had walked right in the room because the door was still open. He had planned on asking the girls if they wanted anymore pancakes.

He had not planned on seeing the tattoo on Quinn's upper right hip. It was a butterfly, about three inches tall and four inches wide. All he knew was that he was not dealing with this one. Shelby was here…she could be the one to tell Judy because Will knew that Judy didn't know about this. They had all talked about Rachel's tattoo for weeks.

Shelby walked into the room and her eyes immediately zoomed into the tattoo on Quinn's hip because the girl had still not put her shirt down. Shelby looked at Rachel and narrowed her eyes. She could already see her daughter's mind working, formulating plans.

"Lucy Quinn Fabray! Where and when did you get that, young lady?" Shelby asked. She wanted answers, and she wanted them now. Quinn had not had it very long. That much Shelby could tell because it looked new.

Rachel was thinking quickly. How could she get them out of trouble? She was not dumb enough to think that she wasn't going down with Quinn. If Quinn went down, she was too because she had had such a big part of this.

At that moment, Kurt and Logan showed up at the bedroom door.

Rachel looked at Logan for several seconds.

"Logan did it! He gave her the tattoo! He is the one who gave me my tattoo also and he never even told you about it!" Rachel said quickly, glaring at Logan, whose face was shocked.

At that moment, Shelby narrowed her eyes at Rachel in a menacing way.

It was what told Rachel that she had definitely said something wrong, but she sure didn't have a clue as to what it was.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Beth pushed the chair up to the counter and motioned for Wilde to climb up on it, then the cabinet, and finally the fridge where their treasure was awaiting. Everyone in the house was wrapped up in something else, and, despite the fact that they were told that they could not have any sweets, the two little girls wanted the cookies that Terri kept on top of the fridge.

"Come on, Beth. It isn't all that high." Wilde said as she stepped on top of the microwave and climbed up on the fridge, putting her bottom on the top of the fridge. Beth smiled and climbed up on the counter and leaned against the fridge as Wilde handed her a cookie from the cookie jar that she had already opened.

"These are awesome." Beth said, taking a huge bite out of the cookie before sticking her hand in the jar to grab another.

"Yea, my mommy makes awesome cookies. But she will usually only let me have two for desert right after supper. Unless I am naughty, then her and daddy won't let me have any." Wilde pouted at the mere thought. It wasn't often that the little girl got into any mischief, but there had been a few times. She and Beth were biological sisters after all, and Beth already had a hold on the little girl that none of the adults understood.

It was the same hold that Rachel had on Beth. Rachel could pretty much get Beth to do anything she wanted, just like Beth could get Wilde to do…only, with Beth and Wilde, Wilde was capable of turning the tables on her older, biological sister.

"Yea, Aunt Terri rocks. These are better than my mommy's cookies…only, don't tell her that." Beth said, eyeing Wilde quickly.

Wilde giggled.

"Okay! I won't."

"What in the world are you two doing?" a screech came from behind them just as Beth felt herself being lifted off of the counter. She looked up at Wilde and noticed the wide eyed look of the girl and then looked up into the angry gaze of Aunt Terri.

Uh oh. This was not going to be good, Beth thought as Aunt Terri got Wilde off of the fridge and sat her beside Beth on the floor, staring ominously down at the two little girls, her hands on her hips and her eyes blazing.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

When no one answered her knocks, Judy decided to go on in the house. Mainly because she could hear raised voices…from the sounds of it, more than one raised voice…and she wanted to know what was going on since everyone seemed to already be at the house and it was only ten thirty in the morning.

Judy walked in the hallway and stopped. The hallway in Will and Terri's home had a perfect view of the kitchen, living room, and the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

And what she saw was chaos.

In the living room, Maribel Lopez was chastising Santana for the night before, making her get up and head to the shower.

In the kitchen, Terri was standing over Wilde and Beth, lecturing them and pointing to the chair that was pushed up against the counter. Judy could only imagine what they had done.

In the hallway leading to the guest room, Logan and Kurt were standing warily behind Shelby who looked hell bent on swatting some behinds at some point in the near future if Judy knew that look as well as she thought she did.

Judy froze, secretly wondering if it would be possible for her to leave the house unnoticed and come back after everything was settled, despite knowing that her daughter was one of the ones Shelby was currently glaring at.

That didn't make her a bad mother…it made her smart.

But, alas, Shelby turned at that exact moment and caught site of her.

"Judy Fabray! Wait until you find out what your daughter did."

At that moment, Judy felt sorry for her daughter and every child in this house.

Because Shelby really was quite scary when she was ticked off.

* * *

**AN: Thoughts? **

**I was not going to end it there originally, but I have some random virus that is running rampant around where I live amongst the schools. So, I figured that this was a fantastic place to stop. I am not sure when the next chapter will be up...after I start feeling like I might live probably. I will be posting a chapter of Left (For those of you who do not know, that is my new Shelby/Rachel fic..check it out if you like) anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. **


	31. Controlled Chaos

**Chapter Thirty-One: Controlled Chaos**

Shelby, Judy, Terri, and Maribel stood in a fierce line in front of the couch. On the couch, Santana, Quinn, Rachel, Wilde, and then Beth were sitting. Santana was nursing her head in her head waiting on the aspirin she had been given by her mother to begin working, and the other girls were just looking down at their laps.

Logan, Will, and Kurt were in the dining room. They didn't want anything to do with the disasters that were taking place in the living room at that moment. Kurt just felt lucky that he had somehow managed to stay out of trouble.

The adult women were simply staring at the girls though, trying to decide what to do with them.

Terri sighed and then looked towards the other three.

"I am going to take Wilde and Beth into the kitchen and talk to them. I don't think that they need to be here while you all talk to the older girls." Terri said. Since the other conversations were going to deal with drinking and tattoos, Terri didn't think that the four and five year old girls needed to know what their role models had been involved in.

"You are right, Terri." Shelby said, nodding. She didn't want Beth or Wilde hearing the conversations either. They had merely sat all the girls on the couch so that the adults could calm down.

"I think this is a perfect time for Santana to shower." Maribel said, motioning for Santana to stand and come with her. Santana grimaced. She knew good and well why her mother wanted to go into the bathroom with her, and it wasn't to make sure that she felt better or start the shower for her.

"Terri, may Rachel and I use your other bathroom?" Shelby asked. Rachel looked at her mother. She still wasn't quite sure why her mom was mad at her. She hadn't technically done anything as far as she knew.

"Of course. Judy, if you like, you may take Quinn into the guest bedroom where the kids stayed last night."

Judy nodded and grabbed Quinn's arm and pulled her down the hallway. They had things to talk about, and she did not want to wait until they got home.

Maribel then grabbed Santana's bag of clothes that she had brought with her and the two headed to the bathroom that was down the hall, while Shelby and Rachel disappeared into Will and Terri's bedroom where the master bath was.

"Come on, you two. I think there are two corners in the kitchen with your names on them." Terri said, raising both of her hands so that the two kids would take them.

Beth sighed.

This was so unfair.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby steered Rachel into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

"Sit." Shelby said, pointing towards the toilet.

"Mom, I don't really have to go, so don't you think we should stop being so rude and go back out?" Rachel said, trying to figure out what her mother was doing. Rachel walked back towards the door…nothing good ever came from being taken into the bathroom.

"Freeze right there." Shelby said, pulling Rachel back in front of her.

"Mom!" Rachel whined.

"Stop, Rachel. You and I are going to have a long talk." Shelby said, eyeing her daughter carefully.

"Mama…why? I haven't done anything!" Rachel said quickly, trying to think of about anything that she had done recently. She couldn't think of anything…

"I beg to differ, Rachel. In fact, I think that you have done something that I thought even you were not capable of coming up with despite all of the schemes that you have managed to come up with over the years."

Rachel took a step back. This did not sound good, yet she still did not know what she had done.

"So…what did I do?" Rachel asked tentatively.

Shelby looked at her and smiled. It was not a nice smile. It was a menacing smile. One that told Rachel that whatever she had done had been major.

"Let's see, Princess of blackmail, what did you do?"

Oh shit. Oh no. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Um…"

"Yes. Um. It's a funny story, really. About a week or two after I met Logan, he told me a story about a young woman who got a musical tattoo while at his shop. Now, imagine his surprise when that young woman and her gay friend turned out to be fourteen and fifteen year old kids. Now, the story doesn't end there, Princess. No, the girl then proceeded to blackmail Logan into giving two of her friends tattoos as well. Thankfully, Logan came directly to me to tell me about the Princess and her royal subjects, and I told him to simply not say anything about it to them, that we would wait it out to see if any of the three would tell the Queen about Logan being the tattoo artist. He refused to give the tattoo when they came to him, yet…yet somehow, the loyal subjects managed to get tattoos anyways and they never told the Queen anything at all about the tattoo artist being Logan."

Shelby stopped for a moment. Had both Santana and Quinn gotten tattoos?

"Go sit on the toilet seat. Now. I will be back soon." Shelby said. She had to go talk to Maribel.

Rachel sat down on the seat without further prompting. She was so dead. So very, very dead.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby stalked towards the other bathroom where Maribel was standing against the wall with her arms crossed, waiting on Santana to shower.

Maribel looked up as Shelby made her way towards her, eyeing the woman curiously.

"Santana may have a tattoo as well. I forgot that Logan said Rachel tried to get him to give both Quinn and Santana tattoos. I am not sure how they managed it, as Logan refused to go near them with a tattoo gun."

"Well, I will just find out right now." Maribel said, her face taking on a glare as she turned around and barged into bathroom, leaving Shelby alone in the hallway. Shelby headed back to her own child while Maribel was snatching open the shower curtain open just as the bathroom door shut.

"Ma! What the crap?" Santana asked, a scowl on her face as she threw an arm over her chest and her other arm to try and cover herself to protect her modesty.

"Oh, now is not the time to be modest, Santana Lopez! I changed your diaper until you were three years old because you were too stubborn to use the toilet! I know everything you have! Except, it was just mentioned that you might have gotten a tattoo along with Quinn, and I want to know if you did! I gave birth to a little girl with perfect olive toned skin, and she had best not tainted it with ink or I will taint her backside with red!" Maribel hissed.

Santana's eyes grew.

"Ma! I didn't, I swear! I don't have a tattoo! Look!" Santana was no longer concerned with her modesty as she turned a full circle under the still running shower to prove to her mother that she had not inked her body.

Maribel's eyes never left Santana's face as the girl turned.

"What made you change your mind?" Maribel asked. She wasn't naïve enough to think that her daughter hadn't thought about it.

Santana shifted uncomfortably. Why did her mother have to do this while she was in the shower?

"Santana…"

"I didn't want you to be disappointed in me if you found out." Santana mumbled as she wiped some of the running water off of her face, embarrassed by admitting such things to her mother. She didn't want her mother thinking that she was going soft.

Maribel's expression softened. She looked at her daughter and smiled.

"Thank you, Santana. I am proud of you."

Santana smiled a bit.

"Now finish your shower. We still have to discuss your drinking last night when you are done. I will be waiting in the hallway." Maribel said, stepping back out of the bathroom.

Santana sighed and went back to her shower. Too bad her good deed didn't outweigh the drinking that she had done the night before in her mother's eyes.

Too bad indeed.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Judy was staring at her daughter's hip, at the multi colored butterfly that was on her skin, marring the once perfectly white body.

"I am so disappointed in you, Quinn. You knew how I felt about you getting a tattoo after Rachel got hers. We talked about it. We talked about the fact that your father and I did not want you to get a tattoo until you were at least eighteen. Yet, here we stand, you are fifteen, and you have one. Care to explain, Quinn?"

"I am sorry." Quinn mumbled. Oh she was so dead.

"Well, sorry isn't going to make this go away, Quinn. Not one bit."

Quinn sniffed, "What are you going to do to me?"

Judy looked at her daughter incredulously.

"I don't know, Quinn. What do _you _think that I should do?"

Quinn swallowed because her throat was suddenly very dry.

"I am serious, Quinn. What do you think that I should do to you?"

This was a turn of events that Quinn had definitely not been expecting.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"Aunt Terri, can I please come out now?" Beth said, sniffing. She hated the corner. She would rather Aunt Terri spank her. Then at least she could go play.

"Please, Mommy? Can we?" Wilde asked from her corner. Terri was sitting at the table and eyeing the two little girls. She had nearly had a heart attack when she had walked into the kitchen to see Wilde sitting on top of the fridge and Beth leaning against it, both girls filling their mouths with cookies.

"Nope. I want you both to keep facing the corner, but I want you both to listen to me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Aunt Terri."

"Yes, Mommy."

"Good. There is a reason that the cookies are on top of the fridge. Neither of you are allowed to have them unless an adult hands you one. That was the first thing that you did wrong. You knew that the grownups were busy, so you both took advantage of it and got a chair and climbed first on the cabinet and then onto the fridge. If either of you would have fallen down, you would have been hurt. Because both of you were both naughty, neither of you can have dessert for an entire week. That means nothing sweet, not even a piece of candy."

Beth turned around in a rush.

"Aunt Terri! Sister's birthday is coming! Will that be after a week? Sister always has the best cake! Please, Aunt Terri!" Beth begged. She couldn't miss birthday cake! That was just insane!

Terri had to hide her smile.

"Turn back around Beth," She watched as the little girl turned back around, "Sister's birthday is not for a week and a half, so your no dessert punishment will be over by then."

She watched as both little girls sighed in relief and barely hid her laugh of amusement.

"Okay, you can come out of the corner."

Both little girls ran to her and threw their arms around her.

Terri was glad that she had gotten the easy kids. So very glad.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Leah went up to Will and Terri's door and knocked so that she could pick up Rachel. She was slightly confused now though because she could have sworn that Rachel said that Shelby couldn't come to pick her up.

Leah shook it off. She had to go pick up Elijah in an hour from a friend's house, so she was planning on making this stop quick.

She waited until Will opened the door. He was shocked to see her standing there.

"Leah! What are you doing here?" He asked.

Leah looked at him, "Rachel asked me to come pick her up because she needed a ride home."

Will did all he could not to laugh, and he shook his head. Rachel really had balls of steel.

"Yea, I got to see this. Come on in." Will said. He had to say, all of the excitement going on in the house was usually a side of the kids that he didn't see. Sure he knew they got into things, but he had never seen it up this close.

Leah followed Will into the living room where Kurt had migrated.

"I'll go get Shelby." Will said. Leah looked at him in confusion, but decided to just sit down. She sat directly in front of Kurt. She knew that he was still afraid of her, even after all of these years, and she enjoyed teasing him a bit about it.

"What is going on, Kurt?" It felt like a madhouse around here.

"All I know is that I didn't do anything!" Kurt said quickly.

Leah raised an eyebrow and was about to say something, but Shelby came out from somewhere and eyed her sister carefully.

"What are you doing here, LeeLee?" Shelby asked. Leah noticed that Rachel was walking slowly behind her mother and shaking her head at her aunt.

Oh, little girl. What did you just get yourself into, Leah thought to herself.

"Rachel called me and asked me to come get her because you were unavailable." Leah said, standing and crossing her arms over her chest. Shelby turned around. She could feel Rachel up behind her.

"Rachel Barbra Corcoran, would you like to explain why your aunt is here to pick you up?" Shelby asked her.

Rachel swallowed and then smiled sweetly.

"I knew that you had your hands full with everything that is going on here, and I thought that I would get out of your hair…"

Rachel was cut off when she felt two hard swats hit her behind.

"Ow! Mom!" Rachel whined.

"Don't even try it. You are lucky that is all you are getting with everything that you have done! Get in here and sit on the couch beside Kurt."

Rachel walked by, covering her backside as she did, and hurried over to the couch past both her aunt and her mother. Maybe she shouldn't have called her aunt.

She sat beside Kurt and he looked at her for a moment.

"Are you crazy? Why did you think that was going to work?"

Rachel sighed.

"I don't know. I didn't think that far ahead."

"That is your problem." Shelby said from across the room, "You don't think about the consequences of your actions. But, don't worry, Princess, you will be writing enough essays and doing enough research, as well as spending enough quality time with me that you will soon start thinking about the consequences of your actions." Shelby smiled sweetly at her.

Rachel sighed and let her head fall to the back of the couch. Her mother's punishment essays were legend at both home and school. Shelby Corcoran preferred the essays to handing out detention. Rachel had only actually had to write a handful of them, as her mom usually chose other means of punishment at home. And she had made it sound like there was going to be more than one essay. It was going to suck.

Soon, Santana came out followed close by her mother. Santana's eyes were a bit red and when she sat down it was a bit tentative. She had paid for her drunken night out. Santana was thankful that her mother had not drawn it out, and now it was all over besides a talk that they were going to have later, at home, about the dangers of drinking. Maribel was a here and now disciplinarian, and most of the times Santana was glad she was. Sure, it sucked when she was in trouble, but afterwards it was over and done with.

Not long after Santana sat down, Quinn came out, her face pale. She had asked her mother if she could think about what she thought her punishment should be, and Judy had told her yes, that she had until seven o'clock, though she could come to her sooner if she felt she was ready. Quinn was not used to this turn of events, and her mind was racing.

Once again, the adults were standing around. This time, however, they were in the dining room. Beth and Wilde had been allowed to go and play in Wilde's bedroom, though everyone was just about ready to head to their own homes.

Shelby walked into the living room and looked at Kurt and Rachel.

"Both of you need to tell Will and Terri thank you and bye. Rachel, you need to apologize to Aunt Leah before we head home."

They both headed out of the room with a nod.

"Quinn, Santana, I will talk to both of you later, along with Rachel. We will be discussing your blackmailing tendencies. I will give you the specifics of the essays that I want written for your disobedience soon. Otherwise, I will see both of you soon." Shelby told them, and then gave both girls a kiss on top of their heads and a quick hug. Both sighed. They also knew what a Shelby Corcoran essay was like. Santana had actually never had to write one, but lucky her, that had all just changed. Santana had watched students cry over those essays though…especially when they had had to rewrite them for the third and fourth times.

Within fifteen minutes, everyone was out of Will and Terri's home, and the two sat on the couch together.

"That was tiring." Will said, leaning against Terri.

"I vote that we fix lunch and then take a nap with Wilde. She was yawning earlier. And, just so you know, Daddy, she is off sweets for one week. So don't you give in to her pouts."

Will scoffed. He would never!

"I know what you are thinking. You gave in and let her go outside when I went to the store last weekend when she was in trouble for turning on the sprinkler system and playing in the water despite it being thirty degrees outside." Terri said with a smirk.

Will stumbled over his words, trying to figure out what to say to his wife.

"Keep it, Daddy. Wilde told me when I laid her down for her nap when I got back. Plus her pants had a grass stain on them that I had to get out."

"I won't give her any sweets." Will said. There was really nothing else he could say.

Terri laughed and kissed him and then added, "Good. Let's go fix lunch. I vote something simple so that we can catch a nap soon."

Within forty minutes, for the first time it seemed all weekend, the house was silent and everyone was fast asleep.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Quinn had been silent all the way home and then once Judy parked the car, she was in the house in search of her father. She looked in the kitchen and the living room, and then finally found him in his office.

Barely keeping her tears at bay as she walked into the office and then, when her father finally looked up at her, sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around his lap.

"QuinnieBear, what is wrong?" Russ asked, wrapping his arms around Quinn to keep her from falling off of his lap.

"I am so sorry, Daddy. You are going to be so mad at me just like Mom is." Quinn said, crying on his shoulder.

"Quinnie, I don't even know what you are talking about. Why is Mom upset with you? Talk to me, baby girl."

"You are going to be mad at me too, though. Mom wants me to come up with how she should punish me, but I don't know, Daddy."

Russ sat for a few moments, rubbing Quinn's back.

"Quinnie, you have to tell me what you did before I can help you."

"Mommy is bad at me Daddy. I made a mistake."

As Judy passed the doorway to Russ's office, she rolled her eyes as she smiled slightly. Despite the fact that she was upset with their daughter, she found it amusing that Quinn had run to her daddy for help. She had suspected Quinn would go to Russ when they got home.

"Quinnie, come on. What did you do?"

Quinn finally took a deep breath and stood up. She pulled her shirt up and pointed to the top of her jeans where her multicolored butterfly was sitting.

"I got a tattoo, Daddy, even though Mom told me that I couldn't have one until I turned eighteen. And Santana, Rachel, and I blackmailed Logan to give it to us, but he wouldn't so I used a fake id to get one. I am so sorry, Daddy. Don't hate me." Quinn said, crying and climbing back onto his lap.

Russ was shocked for a moment. His baby had a tattoo! She was only fifteen!

He cleared his throat and hugged her closer to him.

"I could never hate you, Quinnie. You made a mistake, mistakes happen. Now what did Mom do about it?" Russ asked, knowing that Judy didn't just let this one sit.

"I told you, Daddy, she wants me to tell her how I think that she should punish me. What do I tell her?"

"That is a tough one, Quinnie. But I think that you already know what you have to tell Mom. How long did Mom give you?"

Quinn sniffed, "til like seven. I just want to get it over with. I don't want her to be mad at me anymore, Daddy." Quinn wiped a tear away.

"Well then, QuinnieBear, your mom is in our room, I think. So, go on and go talk to her."

Quinn sniffed again and nodded.

"I just don't know what to tell her."

"Well, tell her that, and think of it this way, Angel, if you go ahead and get it out of the way, it is over and done with, and you will have a clean slate, no matter what Mom does to you."

Quinn nodded. He was right.

"Okay, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you too, Quinnie, but you had better not get another tattoo or your mother will be the least of your worries." Russ said.

Quinn could barely hide her smile. Her father was all talk…it was her mother she really had to watch out for.

"I am going to go talk to her now." Quinn said, and trudged out the door and up the stairs as if she was facing a firing squad.

In her eyes, she was.

She took a deep breath and then finally braved knocking on the door of her parents' bedroom.

"Come in, Quinn."

Quinn opened the door and walked to the bed where her mother was sitting.

"I can't do it, Mom." Quinn whispered, her eyes cast downwards. Judy watched her carefully.

"You can't do what, Quinn?" Judy asked. Judy knew very well what her daughter was talking about, but she wanted Quinn to tell her. Quinn had a lesson to learn and this was part of it.

"You know…"

"Tell me, Quinn."

"I can't come up with my own punishment, Mom. I don't even know where to start…you usually just tell me. I think I like that better." Quinn sniffed.

"Imagine that." Judy said.

Quinn's head shot up and she stared at her mother as Judy moved to sit on the side of the bed beside her.

"What do you mean?"

"Quinn, you are having trouble deciding because I, as your mother and an adult, make those decisions for you. Therefore, is it not safe to say that you are still at an age where all life changing, major decisions should be made by either your father or myself?"

"But it was just a tattoo…"

"Yes, but it is permanently on your being unless it is surgically removed. That is a life changing decision, no matter how small. Plus, you knew that your father and I did not want you to have one. You have known that since everyone found out about Rachel's."

Quinn nodded. She knew that her mother was right, but that sure didn't mean that she wanted to admit it.

But, her mother was right.

"I understand, Mom. I am sorry that I disobeyed you." Quinn told her mother as tears fell down her cheeks.

Judy reached over and cupped Quinn's cheek and looked deep into her hazel eyes.

"Quinnie, you are fifteen. Stop trying to grow up so quickly. You are going to be a grownup for the rest of your life, but you are only going to be a kid once."

Quinn nodded and then fell into her mother.

"I am so sorry, Mom. I am so so sorry."

"I know you are, Quinnie. And, as payment for this misbehavior, you will do whatever Aunt Shel has in store for you. I heard something about essays. I am sure that is going to be a lot of fun, so you will also be receiving a spanking and then you will spend the rest of today grounded to your room." Judy said. She felt Quinn flinch, but it was when she mentioned the essays, not the spanking that had caused her daughter to do so. Judy thought that was hilarious. She couldn't wait to share that little detail with Shelby.

"Okay, Quinn?"

"Okay, Mom." Quinn said, and then stood up. She just wanted to get this over with so that she could be on her way back to her mother's good graces.

Plus, she knew that, despite being grounded to her room, her Daddy would sneak her an ice cream sundae…it was their little secret.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

"I…I just can't do it anymore, Shelby. Your girls don't like me and I don't understand them. I don't think any of the kids in your extended family like me. I don't even think that I am ready for kids or a family or anything that makes you, you…" Logan told Shelby as the two stood on her front porch later that night.

Shelby shivered. She had left her jacket inside when Logan said that he wanted to talk to her on the porch. She had thought the conversation would be a good bye…not a conversation where he broke up with her.

She should have been expecting it though. She should have broken it off herself before things went as far as they had. She should have realized the extent of Rachel and Beth's dislike for him. She really, truly had not realized that until today though. How had she been so blind? Damnit, her children always came first. She should have realized it when Rachel had freaked out about them falling asleep weeks ago. But, she had just thought that Rachel was upset about the newness of it all. She had honestly thought that her girls and Logan would eventually bond.

"I wish you would have realized that a month ago." Shelby said. She noticed the sudden hurt that crossed his face.

But she was hurt more. She really wished that he had told her a month before. It wouldn't hurt so damn much now if he had.

Her daughters were more important though, so she and Logan probably would not have lasted much longer. Not when she truly realized how much the girls detested him.

Shelby hugged herself, trying to stay warm. She walked over to the door and opened it, but stopped and turned to look at him.

"I really wish that you would have told me a month ago. I hope that this wasn't just a fling for you. You are right though…my girls are the most important people in my life, and I will never jeopardize that. Had they come to me and told me that they didn't care for you…I would have broken things off with you. I find the timing odd, but Logan, I am okay with that. I had a good time for the most part. I hope that you can find love…and I hope that one day you are lucky enough to have a family who loves you as much as my family loves me because there is nothing better in the world than the love of family."

Shelby felt a tear begin to slide down her face, so she turned and went into the house, shutting it behind her, leaving Logan behind, for good this time. She leaned against the door and wiped her tear away.

She noticed movement on the stairs and looked up.

Rachel was sitting on the fifth step, her face sad and her eyes holding unshed tears of her own.

"I am sorry, Mama. I am sorry that I ran him off. I should have made a better attempt to like him." Rachel whispered.

Shelby rushed over to her daughter and was sitting beside her in seconds, her arms wrapped around her, her chin on top of her head.

"Baby girl, you did nothing. You and Beth are the most important things in my life, and I would never stay with someone that the two of you did not like."

"I am still sorry. I…I don't know. I am just sorry. If we would have tried harder…"

"Rachel, honey, Logan isn't ready for us. Our family is large and loud, and something is always going on. If I am going to be with a man, he is going to have to fit in with our family perfectly. He is going to have to get along with you and Beth. Perhaps I should have known that you didn't like him; I should have figured out just how deep your distaste went sooner."

"It wasn't like we straight up told you, Mama. And, it was just the newness of it I think. Because we had never really shared you before."

"I need you to promise me something, baby girl."

Rachel nodded and looked up into her mother's green eyes.

"Next time, you and Beth have to tell me how you feel. No matter how small a detail you think it is, you have to tell me."

"I promise." Rachel said, and then went back to hugging her mother. She wanted to try to comfort her mother, but she was quite sure if she could. She was so use to her mother comforting her that she never thought about her mother needing comfort.

"I love you, Mama."

Shelby smiled.

"I love you, too, Rachel. More than you will ever know."

* * *

**AN: Thanks for all the awesome reviews:)**

**SO, thoughts?**


	32. Frannie's Plight

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Frannie's Plight **

Shelby stared at the three girls in front of her, each one sitting on a barstool at the bar in the kitchen, each with several pens and highlighters, a notebook, and a stack of various sources to use for their essays that they were about to start on. Shelby almost felt sorry for them.

Almost.

They had blackmailed a man to give them tattoos, and while it had not worked and Shelby had known about the blackmailing for quite some time, it was time for punishment. Shelby had waited idly by with the information because she had known the girls would put their feet in their mouths before all was said and done.

And they had. Shelby stared at the girls in front of her. Rachel was fidgeting already. It was so hard for her to sit still during something like this. Shelby sometimes wondered how her darling daughter made it through her classes without getting into trouble, but Rachel was a good and attentive student.

"Rachel, stop moving around so much." Shelby said. Rachel sighed. This was so unfair! Why did they have to work on these essays today? Her arm was still hurting a little bit from drunk Santana, and now she had to work for hours on end to finish this essay, whatever this essay was going to be about.

Shelby moved her gaze over to the next girl. Quinn. The little offender whom had actually gotten a tattoo after she was specifically told she could not have one. The way she was trying to get comfortable, yet could not do so, told Shelby that Judy had definitely not gone easy on the girl the night before. On the contrary, the girl looked pained at the mere thought of sitting when Shelby had told her she would be sitting at least for the next two hours.

Good, Shelby thought, let that be a lesson to you little Quinnie.

Next, Shelby looked at Santana. She looked terrified, but was trying to hide it. Shelby knew that she was probably afraid of the essay she was fixing to have to write.

Shelby was proud of her essay punishment. It kept kids at school in line for the most part. They feared the thought of having to write a 'infamous Corcoran essay'. She made students cry over these essays. It was her ability to make students cry over an essay that had gained her the respect of Sue Sylvester.

Though, Shelby suspected that Sylvester had heard about her before she came to teach at McKinley, and had more or less left her alone. The other woman might like to play dirty, but Shelby could play dirtier. So, somewhere they had gained a mutual understanding and neither messed with the other.

Despite her love of these punishment essays at school, she didn't really like using it at home. But, it was a sure fire way to make the girls think about their actions.

"Each of you will write an essay about what you did, why it was wrong, and what you should have done differently. Then, you will explore blackmailing, its history and why it is illegal, which you will discover in the sources that are in front of you. In those sources, you will either highlight or underline the thesis statement and the critical points. You will include in your essay a summary of each source and a works cited page. If you need help with this, you may use the MLA handbook that I will bring in from my office. These essays will be written neatly, and will be at least three thousand words, of which you will count meticulously. Failure to follow these guidelines will be harder on yourselves, as I have no qualms about making you starting completely over. Are there any questions?"

Shelby watched the girls. Rachel wanted to argue, but bit her tongue. Smart girl, Shelby thought, as she stared at her daughter.

Quinn wanted to start hers. This wasn't her first rodeo.

Santana looked positively green. Surprisingly, she had never had to assign an essay to the Latina. In her classes at school, Santana knew better than to misbehave with Shelby most of the time, something Quinn and Rachel had yet to grasp.

None of them asked any questions.

"Good. I expect silence while you are working. If you need anything, you will ask me. If you have to get up and use the restroom, you will do so and then quickly return to your seats. This is not a game that we are playing and if you want to finish these essays in a timely fashion, you will work diligently on them. Both Regionals and Rachel's birthday party rely on your diligence."

With that, Shelby walked out of the room with a smile. She hated that it was such a beautiful day. It was on the warmer side for December, and she would much rather be outside putting up Christmas decorations instead of monitoring the three girls in the kitchen. Oh well, she thought silently, as she walked up the stairs.

She knew her essays sucked. But they would get the point, and Shelby was sure she would have some amusing reading to do later. That would make the wasted Sunday worth it.

Shelby walked into Beth's room to check on the girl. She had been eerily quiet, something that was unusual for the five year old.

"Elizabeth Corcoran, just what in the world do you think you are doing, young lady?" Shelby demanded as she stared at her daughter's guilty face.

Beth was sitting on her behind, her legs crossed Indian style, crayons littered around her legs and her once perfectly white closet door was a myriad of color.

"Hi, Mommy." Beth said, scooting over in front of her drawing.

As if she could hide it, Shelby thought, shaking her head. Though, she did note that the drawing was on the _inside _ of the closet door, not the outside that would have shown had the door been closed.

"Young lady, I think that you need to come downstairs with me. You will be cleaning off that door tonight. You will also be losing all of your colors, markers, pens, and pencils. I will be keeping them in my office. I am disappointed, Beth. I thought you were over coloring on your walls!" Shelby said. Why couldn't her children stay out of trouble? One of the little angels was always getting into something.

"But, Mommy, I wanted to make my door pretty." Beth said.

Shelby closed her eyes. She really was just not into this today.

"Come on. Downstairs." Shelby said, pointing towards the open door. Beth huffed and sighed, but made her way towards the door, receiving a hard swat to the behind as she passed her mother. Beth hissed and turned around, her hands covering her rear, and her eyes glaring up at her mother.

"You know you should warn somebody next time! That swat was not necessary, Mommy!" Beth said. It was one of the differences between Rachel and Beth. Rachel would have gotten that swat and pouted. Though, Beth rarely ever got swats in passing.

"You deserved it, and if you do not want another one, I suggest you get downstairs and sit at the table. You are going to write your own essay about why we do not color on the walls or doors." Shelby said.

Shelby's heart nearly plummeted when she saw her baby girl's eyes go from glaring at her to sparkling with excitement.

"I get to write an essay like the big kids? Awesome!" Beth said, then ran down the stairs. Shelby was close behind her and walked into the kitchen just as Beth stood beside the three girls in there and was telling them excitedly about her own essay.

"I get to write an essay just like you guys! Isn't that cool, Sister?"

Rachel, Quinn, and Santana were staring at the little girl like she was nuts.

Rachel finally found her voice and looked at her little sister.

"If you think it is cool, Sis, I guess. Now go on." Rachel said, bending back over her own essay. The other two teens soon followed suit. Beth might think that writing these essays was cool, but it definitely wasn't.

Rachel wanted to vomit when she heard Beth excitedly ask her mother what she was supposed to write about.

It was going to be a long day.

This thought came from Shelby as she sat beside Beth to explain what she was going to write, from Rachel who was tired of sitting still and writing, from Quinn whose behind was aching, and Santana who just knew that she was going to miscount the words on this stupid essay and have to start all the way over.

Long day indeed.

**~OneStepAtATime~**

Later that night, after hours of work, the girls had finally been able to turn in adequate essays that pleased Shelby, though Shelby had caused Quinn to cry when she had told her to rewrite her essay one more time to let the message sink in, and then had caused Santana to nearly cry when she told her that her summaries were not adequate enough. Beth had been excited until she had completed her own little writing assignment and then forced upstairs with a Magic Eraser and a bucket of water to clean off her door under the watchful eye of her mother. She had been even angrier when her mother had then made her hand over all of her writing instruments.

Rachel had written a fair few punishment essays, and had actually finished first, to the surprise of her mother, but the fourteen year old knew that if she didn't get to move around soon, she was going to go nuts and then end up in more trouble. She was really trying to be good. Her birthday was in little over a week, and she didn't want anything getting in the way of her birthday plans.

Now, Shelby had Rachel sitting on the counter in her bathroom while Shelby looked at the cut on her arm for the millionth time since Saturday.

"I am not so sure I shouldn't have taken you to get stitches." Shelby said as she took the bandage off. The cut was rather deep and Shelby wanted to keep it clean, despite Rachel fussing every time she cleaned it out. Shelby knew that the cut was hurting more than Rachel was saying because she was barely using the arm unless she absolutely had too.

"It's gonna look so horrible at Regionals." Rachel stated lamely, trying to will her tears to disappear.

Shelby shot her a look for a moment to gage whether or not she was in a lot of pain when she heard the tears in Rachel's voice.

"It will be fine. Does it hurt?" Shelby said as she looked at the gash to make sure that there was no redness or swelling. Maybe she needed to take Rachel to get a tetnus shot the next day to be on the safe side. They sure didn't need to have an infection set it. Shelby wouldn't even worry about it if it weren't so deep looking.

"Mom, it's fine. I mean, it hurts a little, but it's a gash and Santana fell on too of me! She is bigger than me!" Rachel said, trying to gently remove her arm from her mother.

"Stop moving, Rachel. I want to clean it out."

"Then it is going to hurt more!" Rachel whined, but didn't. move. She knew her mother. It was best not to move. Besides, it would hurt more if she fought her mother cleaning it.

"You don't want to catch gangrene and have your arm fall off, do you?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. Her mother had been saying that for ages, every single time that she wanted to clean out a cut that Rachel or Beth had. Obviously she didn't want her arm to fall off. Good grief.

"I didn't think so." Shelby said, and pulled peroxide and cotton balls out from under her sink.

While Shelby cleaned up the cut, Rachel only flinching a few times, Rachel was deep in thought. Shelby looked up at her and tapped her chin gently with one free finger.

Rachel looked down at her.

"What is going on in that pretty little head of yours?" Selby asked. She was using a cotton swab to spread neosporin on the cut before she bandaged it.

Rachel sighed and looked at her mother.

"I am still really sorry about Logan." Rachel whispered. Shelby sighed and looked into her daughter's eyes.

"Rachel, that was not your fault. He wasn't ready for a family. Sure, you shouldn't have blackmailed him, but honey, I will date no man who is not ready for my children. I will not date a man you and Beth do not like either. I wish you two would have told me that you didn't like him."

"I am sorry. It was just... I know we were selfish. We should have given him more of a chance." Rachel said, looking down at her hands as Shelby wrapped gauze around her arm.

"Perhaps so, but none of this is your fault. Or Beth's. understand?"

Rachel nodded.

"Good girl. Now we need to go cook some supper. How about you help me?" Shelby said. Rachel nodded and smiled. She was a horrible cook and burnt water if that was even possible, but she did still like to help her mother cook. It had been something they had done together since she was small and got a spanking for trying to cook her sick mother breakfast.

"Good deal; let's go do that."

Together mother and daughter walked down the stairs, one hoping that her mother was right, the other hoping her daughter understood that her break up was not her fault.

One thing Shelby Corcoran would not do was put a man before her children. Her mother had been that kind of parent, and she refused to be. Hell could freeze over and she would still never take that step. She loved her daughters too much.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Frannie Fabray sat off to the side as she watched the winners of the Regionals glee competition about to be announced. She had been there from the beginning, sitting in the middle, on the outside of a row. She was staying in the shadows. She wanted to observe, but remain unnoticed. It has been a while since she had left. Since she had once again walked away from her family: Her mother. Her father. Her sister.

It had been a while since she had left her second child with parents who could be there with her. Love her like she deserved.

It had been a lifetime since she had left her firstborn in the arms of another woman, a woman who remained a large part of her family.

Frannie had known since she had shown up with Wilde that she had been, in a sense, replaced by Shelby Corcoran. She had known, in a sense, since she had left Beth in her arms at the tiny girl's birth that the older woman had replaced her as a mother. It had been a shock to discover that she had replaced her in her own family as well. It was obvious that her parents and sister loved Shelby Corcoran.

Frannie had then been replaced by Terri. It seemed that Terri and Will fit into her family just as well as Shelby did.

"And the winner of this year's Regional competition is…"

Frannie caught sight of her mother and father. They were holding hands, hoping for the best. Frannie knew that McKinley had this in the bag. She might not be a singer, but it was obvious that the group had outshined everyone else here.

"…McKinley High!"

Frannie smiled. She had been right. She was glad that she came. Her sister had been amazing, several of the lines in the group number had been sung by her alone.

Her little sister really was not all that little anymore.

Frannie watched as the group of McKinley High students ran towards one another. Rachel and Quinn took the trophy together, and then hugged one another. A boy came and hugged Rachel and then a tall latina and another blonde came and hugged Rachel and Quinn at the same time. It was obvious that the group of girls were all friends. Several of the kids were nearly in tears from their excitement. They would go onto Nationals in New York in March. Of course they were excited. Not many kids ever got to leave Lima, even to visit other places for a short time.

Or they left and never came back. In reality, Frannie was one of those. She was a Lima Loser who had left and never really came back. She was one who, had she not feared for her sanity, would have never left Lima and she knew it. Had she not gotten pregnant with Beth and given her up, she would be working somewhere in Lima. Had she not gotten pregnant with Wilde, she would be somewhere in Lima.

But, she had. She had done all of that and she had been forced to leave. It may have seemed cruel, but it had been what she had to do in order to save her family. To save Quinnie. Quinnie had looked up to her, and the last thing that Frannie had wanted was to have Quinnie end up like her.

Quinn had potential. She was never going to be the Lima Loser that Frannie had been destined to be. Quinn was going to make it out, right along with her little friend Rachel. Everyone knew that Rachel Corcoran was going to make it out. That little girl had had big dreams since she was a toddler, and her mother had fed them, making them bigger than life. Shelby Corcoran knew that her daughter had potential just like Frannie knew that her parents knew Quinn had potential.

Frannie watched as Quinn ran off the stage, a huge smile on her face. She ran to their parents and Russ picked her up as she jumped into his arms in her excitement.

Rachel was not far behind Quinn, running to her mother and sister…Frannie's little Beth…No. Shelby and Rachel's Beth. Beth had never belonged to Frannie. Even when she had been pregnant, she had known that Beth was not hers to keep.

After a few moments, Quinn and Rachel went in another direction, Beth holding tightly to Rachel's hand.

Frannie's breath quickened. Surely they hadn't seen her.

She exhaled when they ran up to another person.

Her heart cracked when she heard Quinn yell, "Aunt Terri, did you see us? We won!"

Aunt Terri? Were they really _already_ that close?

Frannie watched as Quinn wrapped her arms around Terri, and Terri returned her hug with a huge smile.

"Wasn't Sister and Quinn awesome, Aunt Terri?" Beth asked, taking Wilde's hand in hers. Both little girls were smiling. Both her babies were together.

Were they friends?

Obviously they were.

"I did, Beth! They were amazing!"

"Mommy!"

Frannie looked up. She knew Wilde's voice well. It was the voice that would cry her name when she went to work. The same voice that would tell her 'no' when she went to pick her up to try and comfort her.

Frannie's heart broke a little more when Terri bent down and picked up Wilde. Wilde went willingly into the woman's arms. It was a willingness that Frannie had never seen in the little girl, not once.

"What is it, baby girl?"

"Mommy, Daddy said if they won, that they were getting ice cream…is me and Beth's no desert punishment over yet?"

Terri laughed lightly and hugged the little girl.

"Yes. It was over today." Terri told the little girl, kissing her forehead.

Frannie watched. She wanted that. She wanted it, yet…..yet she didn't, she realized. What Frannie wanted was the idea of what was in front of her. The idea of unconditional love and family.

But, she suddenly realized, she had had that and she had been the one to mess that up.

Frannie suddenly caught Quinn's eyes. She had meant to be gone by now. She had meant to leave right after finding out who won. But she couldn't do that to Quinn now. Not now that she had seen her.

Quinn walked over to Frannie just as Rachel looked up to see where the blonde was going. Frannie watched as Rachel's smile faded and her brow wrinkled in thought.

"You came. I didn't expect you too." Quinn said lightly. True to her word, Frannie had called Quinn at least once a week since she left. Quinn had asked her to come but had told her she understood if she couldn't.

"I needed to come for you." Frannie told her, tears threatening to spill out of the corner of her eyes as she realized that Quinn had a perfect family that did not include her. That her biological daughters had perfect families that also did not include her.

"Thank you." Quinn whispered, hugging her sister suddenly around the middle.

"Wilde calls her Mommy already?" Frannie asked, a tear finally spilling over her cheek.

"They love her. Frannie…please…if you love me, if you love Beth and Wilde…please don't mess this up for us. We are all finally happy…" Quinn said, tears of her own threatening to spill.

Frannie looked up, away from Quinn. She should have left earlier, she thought to herself. That thought made itself known again when, this time, she caught Wilde's eyes.

Wilde did not attempt to come to her, but instead wrapped her arms and legs tightly around Terri. Terri then turned to look in the direction that Quinn had gone and Rachel was staring at.

Terri walked towards them, one arm rubbing Wilde's back, the other holding the little girl up on her waist.

Rachel and Beth were right behind her.

"Hello, Frannie." Terri said, a smile on her face. It was a smile, but underneath it, Frannie caught a glimpse of the ferocious beast that lay underneath. The one that, if needed, would protect its' cubs. It was apparent that all of these children were, in one way or another, Terri's cubs, just as they were Frannie's mother and father's, and Shelby's.

"Would you like to talk to Wilde, Frannie?" Terri asked gently. Frannie watched as Wilde tightened her grip on Terri. Frannie watched as Wilde tightened her grip on her _mother_.

"No. She is where she belongs." Frannie whispered. Rachel now had her arm around Quinn.

Beth gently loosened her big sister's hold on her own tiny hand and stood in front of the group, her eyes aged with a sudden wisdom that should never be in the eyes of a five year old child.

"I know that you are my biogetical mommy. I know that Uncle Will is my biogetical daddy. Wilde is my sister just like Rachel is my sister. You have to stop messing with things. It isn't fair. You made Quinnie cry, and Wilde is afraid. I know Aunt Judy and Uncle Russ love you…but you have to leave us alone. You have too." Beth said, tears flowing down her little cheeks.

Beth went up to the woman who was her biological mother and motioned for her to come down to meet her gaze. Without a thought, Frannie got on her knees and kneeled in front of the child.

Beth looked at her for a moment and extended her tiny hand and laid it on Frannie's left cheek and looked into her eyes.

"Thank you for giving me to my Mommy. Thank you for giving Wilde to her Mommy and Daddy." And then the little girl leaned forward and kissed Frannie on the cheek.

Beth then turned and ran back to Rachel, who picked her up despite Beth being nearly too big for Rachel to pick up, and wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck, her legs around her waist, and hid her face from everyone.

Rachel looked at Frannie and nodded.

"Thank you, Frannie, for my sister, and my cousin."

Rachel then turned around and walked towards her mother, who had suddenly appeared behind them. Shelby automatically wrapped her arms around both of her children.

Quinn walked over to Frannie and hugged her, and then whispered into her ear, "You did the right thing, big sister. And for that, I will _always_ look up to you. I love you."

Quinn let go and then Frannie stood. Suddenly, everyone in the large, extended family was there, even Judy and Russ.

"I have to go. Mom, Dad. I love you."

Frannie hugged them quickly, and then turned and walked. She walked out of the building. She walked to her rental car.

And she knew that she was walking away from her family, at least until she knew that she could come back and not hurt them.

A simple thank you, though, from her five year old biological daughter, told her that she had made the right choice.

It told her that, this time, it was better to walk away before someone was hurt.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby laid in bed with Beth and ran her fingers through the little girl's hair. Beth had been quiet all night, which was unusual, but Shelby knew that the little girl had had a lot on her mind after talking to Frannie.

In truth, Shelby had never been more proud of her five year old. And, she knew, in some ways, Beth's words had helped Frannie as well.

"Are you okay, sweet pea?" Shelby asked as Beth cuddled closer to her.

"Yea. I am just thinking."

Shelby nodded and then looked towards the door where Rachel was slowly opening the door.

"Can I come in, Beth?" Rachel asked. Despite the fact that her mother was in there, Shelby always made it clear that it was up to whoever's room it was whether someone else could come in. The only one that the rule didn't apply to was Shelby herself, and her children knew it.

"Yea, you can come in, Sister."

Rachel nodded and then crawled into bed, sandwiching her sister in between her and her mother.

"You did awesome tonight, Sister."

Rachel smiled and cuddled down closer to her sister.

"Thank you, Sis. I am really proud of you too. What you told Frannie…that was really brave."

Shelby had to bite back her tears as the two sisters talked. She was so proud of her girls and how much they truly did love one another.

"Sister, my no dessert is over now. Aren't you excited about your birthday? There will be cake and ice cream!" Beth said, wrapping one of her hands around Rachel's.

"I am excited, Beth." Rachel said with a smile.

Shelby watched as Beth effectively changed the subject. She listened as the girls talked about Rachel's birthday, which would be in three days. Shelby smiled, and soon, all three fell asleep in Beth's bed. Thankfully school was out for Christmas break and they didn't have to get up the next day because they all slept in late the next morning, something that was desperately needed after the tiring day they had had.

* * *

**AN: So, thoughts? Comments? **


	33. Happy Birthday, Rachel

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Happy Birthday, Rachel**

At five o'clock in the morning on December the eighteenth, Shelby Corcoran walked into her eldest daughter's room and quietly climbed into bed with her.

This was something she had done every single year since the girl turned one, only then she had brought Rachel into her own bed to cuddle for a while.

Shelby gently rubbed the girl's back to get her to wake up. Slowly, Rachel woke up and turned towards her mother and smiled, then snuggled into her mother's chest. She immediately brought her hand up and laid it, palm side up, underneath her mother's shirt, against her skin, and used the back of her hand to feel the skin on her mother's stomach as she clutched her shirt.

"Happy Birthday, Baby." Shelby whispered, as she hugged her child to her.

"Thank you, Mama." Rachel said, yawning.

"Why don't you put on your hat, gloves, boots, and jacket. I have the hot chocolate sitting on the counter in the kitchen, and the blankets are sitting by the door."

Rachel smiled widely and nodded. This was something that they did every year on her birthday after her mom woke her up and snuggled with her for a little bit.

They would go out on the front porch with blankets and hot chocolate and watch the sun rise as it shimmered over the snow. Afterwards, they would come back in the house and snuggle some more.

Within the next few minutes, both Shelby and Rachel were dressed warmly, and outside sitting on the porch swing with blankets wrapped around them tightly and hot chocolate in their hands.

"This is always my favorite part of my birthday." Rachel said, leaning her head over against her mother.

Shelby turned her head and kissed Rachel's head.

"It is my favorite part too, baby girl. Probably because it is really the only time of day on your birthday that I get you all to myself."

Rachel laughed.

"Do you think that we will always be able to do this? Even when I am old and married and stuff? Will I still be able to come home on my birthday so that I can sit outside with you and drink hot chocolate and watch the sun rise?"

Shelby smiled. Oh how she wanted to bottle up these moments.

"Yes. You will always be able to come back so that we can do this. Or, I will come to you. As long as this is something you want to do on your birthday, we will make it happen."

"I am glad. You say it is the only part of the day that you get me all to yourself, but it is the only time of day where I get you all to myself too. Sometimes I still miss that." Rachel said, and placed her empty cup on a table that was beside the swing, and then wrapped her arms around her mother's left arm.

"What do you mean, baby girl?" Shelby asked.

"Sometimes I just want it to be me and you, or just me and you and Beth. We are always so busy that we don't ever get to slow down and just be together."

Shelby nodded and held her daughter closer.

She knew that she would have to start making time so that they could do just that.

"Tell me about the time you first held me."

Shelby smiled again. It was Rachel's favorite story, so as the sun rose, Shelby whispered the story into her daughter's ear.

"The nurse held you up to me, and you simply stared into my soul with those large brown eyes…."

**-OneStepAtATime-**

At one o'clock, things were no longer quiet in the Corcoran house. In fact, they were anything but.

All of the kids were always excited about Rachel's birthday. There was always a sleepover that Quinn, Kurt, attended, and over the last few years, Santana had attended it as well. Santana was slowly become a more constant part of their family, and she fit in quite well.

All of the kids were in the living room talking and watching television. Elijah, Beth, and Wilde were in there entertaining the group of teenagers in one way or another, and Shelby could hear them all laughing. Will, Russ, and James were outside, away from the noise, and Shelby, Judy, Terri, and Leah were in the kitchen sitting around the table until it was time for cake.

"He just left?" Terri asked Shelby as she quietly told the women about Logan breaking up with her. She hadn't really had the chance to talk to them all together since it happened, and she really hadn't wanted to. But, her feelings were still hurt, and she was at the point now where she wanted to talk to her sister and friends.

"He said he wasn't ready for kids to be involved, and that my kids didn't like him. Which, apparently they didn't. I would never stay with anyone who Rachel and Beth didn't like. I wish they would have told me sooner." Shelby whispered, a tear falling down her face. It surprised the other three women sitting around the table because Shelby so rarely cried.

Leah and Judy looked across the table at one another and sent each other a knowing look. A look that was missed by both Terri and Shelby.

Leah moved her chair closer to Shelby and pulled her sister in for a hug.

"You slept with him didn't you?" Leah whispered. A silent sob broke from Shelby. Leah only knew that she was crying because of the way her body was shaking. Leah ran her hands over Shelby's back to comfort her.

"Shh. It is okay, Shell. It isn't the end of the world." Judy said. Terri looked on at the scene in front of her. She would never have made the conclusions that Leah and Judy had made and been right about them.

But, the women were older, more experienced in both life and Shelby Corcoran than she was. She was still learning.

"I was so stupid. You all know that I don't jump into any relationship with anyone like that. But this time…I don't know. I was so stupid. I really thought…I don't know what I thought. I felt so…used when he broke it off because we had only been sleeping together for a month, and only when I didn't have the girls at home, which you know if not all that often." Shelby said as she took an offered tissue from Terri.

"Shelby, it is okay. Like I said, it was not the end of the world. Did you at least enjoy yourself?" Judy asked, an impish glint in her eyes.

Shelby laughed through her tears.

"I suppose I did." Shelby said, a deep, crimson blush spreading over her cheeks.

"Then it wasn't for nothing. Yes, it is horrible that he broke up with you, but you would not have stayed with him anyways as soon as you figured out that your girls didn't care for him. You have needs too, Shelby. Sometimes you need to put your needs above everyone else's." Judy said as she rubbed Shelby's hand.

"I am glad that it is over now. Rather now than finding out later that Rachel and Beth didn't like him. I have talked to them both about it and they both promised me that next time they will tell me if they do not like someone that I bring home."

Leah hugged her sister tighter.

"It is going to be okay. Stop being so damn hard on yourself. Besides. We have a birthday to celebrate." Leah said.

"Yes we do; go clean up your face before we call the kids in here. I am pretty sure that they are all getting antsy. Especially Miss Rachel." Judy said. Shelby smiled and then nodded. She didn't want Rachel to know that she had been crying, especially not on her birthday.

Soon, Shelby was back in the kitchen and moving the birthday cake to the kitchen table. It was a golden star with Rachel's name written in tinier silver stars. The inside of it was strawberry and the icing was cream cheese. It was the same exact cake that Rachel had had every year since sh was three years old. They had vanilla and chocolate ice cream as well.

Shelby was the one who would cut the cake because she wanted to limit the amount that Rachel got. She always saved three pieces so that Rachel could eat a small piece every day over the next few days and not over indulge on the day of her party. She had no desire to chase her daughter around or stay up with her all night because she was on a sugar high.

"Okay, everyone in the kitchen!" Shelby yelled through the house. She quickly got out of the way as the three younger kids ran into the room, followed closely by the older kids.

Shelby shook her head.

"Okay, Rach, sit in front of the cake so that I can take your picture." Shelby instructed. Over the next ten minutes, picture were taken, until Beth looked up at Shelby and pouted.

"Mommy, we are never gonna get to eat cake are we? This will be the first real desert me an' Wilde got in forever!" Beth said, stretching the truth slightly since both little girls had gotten to eat ice cream after Regionals the Saturday before.

Shelby raised an eyebrow and then finally smiled.

"Okay, let's light the candle and do cake, then Rachel can open her presents." Shelby said.

Russ leaned over Rachel and lit the candles. They had let Rachel light them when she turned thirteen, and she had ended up burning the cake and no one got to eat any of it. Beth had cried for nearly an hour that year because she had wanted to eat cake, not watch it burn.

Rachel, even now, didn't really care about the cake. That would come later. All three of her uncles had been handing her pieces of chocolate…her favorite chocolate covered caramels…since they had been there.

Now, she wanted to open her presents.

She waited patiently while the group sang happy birthday to her...some of them terribly off key.

Then she blew out her candles, smiling up at her mom as she took another slew of pictures.

Then, she looked at her mother with a look of expectance on her face.

Shelby laughed. She knew her daughter, and knew her well.

"Yes, yes. We can do presents now and eat cake later."

"Mommy!" Beth whined. She wanted cake!

"Elizabeth! This is Rachel's birthday. Rachel is going to open presents and then we will eat cake."

Beth nodded, but Shelby knew she wasn't happy about it.

"Sis, come here." Rachel said quietly. Shelby almost didn't even hear her. She turned to look at her daughters. Beth went around the table and sat on Rachel's lap. Rachel took something out of her pocket and placed it in Beth's hand and then whispered in her ear.

Beth grinned and nodded, then kissed Rachel's cheek.

Rachel laughed, and then pulled something else out of her pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth.

Shelby's eyes widened. Who was giving her sugar addicted, newly turned fifteen year old candy?

Shelby suspected, but currently couldn't prove anything, so she would wait it out.

"Okay, Rachel, start opening your presents!" Shelby said. Soon, Rachel was being handed presents.

She opened clothes, cds, gift cards, and a new jacket. She had been wanting that jacket for ages, and Kurt, Quinn, and Santana had apparently all chipped in and gotten it for her.

Rachel was excited about every single thing that she opened. She took a gift from her mother, and smiled. Her mother's presents were always her favorite ones to open.

"Is it a gift card to the new tattoo place down by the multiplex?" Rachel asked slyly. Several heads shot towards her: Quinn and Santana because they knew that it was way too soon for jokes about tattoos. The adults all looked at her sternly.

Rachel, at least, had the decency to look sheepish.

"Too soon?"

Shelby, with a raised eyebrow, nodded. Too soon indeed.

"How about a piercing?"

"Rachel!" Quinn hissed.

"Oh! Sister! You better behave! You are up to fifteen swats now when mommy spanks you!"

Rachel blushed and turned towards Beth.

"Beth! Shut it!" Seriously?! Beth was going to have to learn that their mom didn't always give a swat a year spankings. Rachel hadn't gotten one of those in a while.

"Rachel Barbra, open that present before I decide to take it back!" Shelby told her, trying to make sure that she and Beth didn't get into it, though she was laughing. Her daughter's antics were honestly too much sometimes. Both daughters, really. Plus, she was already starting to see the effects of the sugar in Miss Rachel.

How many pieces of chocolate had Rachel been given and eaten? Oh, she was fixing to find out.

"Thanks, Mom!" Rachel said, as she looked in the box. There was a silver chain, and attached to the chain was her name in gold, the tail of the 'R' wrapped around a small golden star with Rachel's birthstone in the middle.

"I love it, Mom!" Rachel said with a huge smile on her face, putting the necklace on. Shelby smiled. She had had the necklace special made for Rachel, and had somehow been able to keep it hidden from her for over six months.

"You're welcome, baby girl." Shelby said with a smile. Rachel got up and walked over to her mother and threw her arms over her.

"Can we have cake now?" Beth asked, tugging at Shelby's shirt.

"Yes. Yes. Cake it is." Shelby said, and then finally started to cut the cake.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rachel leave the room.

Followed by three suspicious looking uncles.

Shelby looked up with narrowed eyes and looked at Judy.

Judy was smirking.

"Judith Fabray! Did you know?" Shelby asked. She knew no one else had a clue what she was talking about, but Judy did.

Judy put her hands up in mock surrender.

"I didn't have a clue. You know how they are. You know what Rachel is like on sugar too."

"She will go home with you." Shelby muttered as she made her way out of the kitchen after handing Judy the knife she had been cutting the cake with.

"Oh no she will not, Shelby Corcoran. You know how she is on a sugar high."

Shelby just shook her head as she left the room. She knew that it was funny to watch Rachel. For the first ten minutes. But in reality, it was not funny to have to deal with the long term effects.

She walked into the living room, and noticed the four, the three uncles and Rachel, standing in the corner.

Russ had a mountain dew that he was handing over to Rachel.

Will had what looked to be several pixie stix in his hand. Pure sugar.

James had chocolate in his.

"Guys! Seriously? What the hell!" Shelby said before she could stop herself. She had known it was James and Russ. They had gotten a kick out of sugar high Rachel since the girl was six.

But Will too?

Rachel grabbed the mountain dew and took a nice, long drink out of it right before Shelby took it from her hands and turned Rachel to look at her.

"No more sugar for you right now. Not even cake. Go back into the kitchen. I need to talk to your uncles, and then I want you, Santana, Quinn, and Kurt in the living room. I have something for you four."

Rachel nodded. She didn't care if she couldn't have cake. She would get to eat some later, and she had been eating sweets since her uncles had gotten there.

She turned around and looked at her uncles and smiled.

"Good luck, guys!"

Rachel then literally skipped out of the room.

Shelby turned to the three men, her hands on her hips.

She was no longer Shelby.

She was Ms. Corcoran.

"Do I need to assign the three of _you _an essay? It wasn't funny hyping her up on sugar when she was six, Russell and James, and it is not funny now that she is fifteen, Will, James, Russell. Do you realize that if she gets hyped up, it literally gives her a hangover? That the next morning she has a headache and it takes most of the day to get rid of? Did the three of you realize that she doesn't sleep, at all, when she is like that? Yet, you three thought it would be a good idea to give her loads of sugar because she is funny for an hour or so. It isn't. It is cruel. She may be fifteen, but she doesn't know she has had too much sugar until it is too late. You three should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Shelby inwardly smiled. Yes, she was laying it on thick, but no one ever wanted sugar high Rachel when she was still up at two in the morning. They wanted the sugar high Rachel that would dance around and sing funny songs.

"We are sorry, Shell." Russ said, sheepishly. There were not many people who could make him feel badly about anything, but Shelby Corcoran was one of them.

"Yea, Shelby. We are sorry. Really sorry." Will said. This was new to him. Shelby was strict with the kids, but he definitely felt like a child at the moment.

James nodded. He was definitely sorry.

"Good! Next time I catch you three hyping her up, you will regret it!" Shelby said, then spun around and walked out of the room.

The men swallowed and took deep breathes.

Shelby had walked out of the room smiling the entire way.

But she knew they wouldn't give Rachel any more sweets, at least for a while.

**-OneStepAtATime-**

Shelby held four wrapped boxes in her arms as Santana, Quinn, Kurt, and Rachel walked into the living room and sat side by side on the couch.

"Okay guys. As you know, Christmas is in a few days. I got each of you something that is very similar, and since I won't see you all again until after Christmas, I wanted to go ahead and give them to you guys now. I am afraid that Rachel might let it slip what it is. So, I want the three of you to open the together."

"I wouldn't tell!" Rachel said quickly.

Shelby smiled at her daughter.

"You say that now, baby girl. So, you guys, go ahead and open them." Shelby said.

She watched the four kids open the presents, Kurt without tearing the paper, Santana tearing into it with a vengeance, Rachel and Quinn both easily ripping off the paper off in shreds.

Rachel was the first to open the lid on her box.

"Holy shit! Mom! Seriously?" She said with a huge smile on her face, without even thinking about her words.

"Rachel! Mouth, young lady!"

"Oh! Auntie Shell! For real?"

"Aunt Shell!

"Ms. Corcoran, really?"

Shelby smiled at the four kids in front of her.

"I am very serious. Two days after Christmas, the five of us are going to Chicago. We are going to see Wicked, shop, ice skate, and a couple more shows that we will all mutually decide on. We will be gone for five days. I only purchased the Wicked tickets for sure, in case you four decided you wanted to do something else."

Shelby had stuffed the boxes with Chicago brochures, a calendar with the dates that they would be gone marked, and the Wicked tickets.

Suddenly, she was bombarded by four teenagers, each one very excited.

They were going on a road trip.

* * *

**AN: So...who thinks that the road trip is going to be easy on Shelby? Any thoughts on what is about to happen?**

**Thoughts, comments on this chapter? **

**Thanks for all the reviews:)**


	34. One Hour, Thirteen Minutes

**Chapter Thirty-four: One Hour, Thirteen Minutes**

"Santana, you behave. You listen to Shelby or she has my permission to treat you just like one of hers." Maribel Lopez said as she helped Santana put her suitcase in the back of Shelby's SUV.

"Mom, I know!" Santana whined.

"I am serious, Santana."

Santana nodded, then unzipped her suitcase, rifling through things looking for something.

"Santana Lopez! Young lady, stop. What are you looking for? I have already had to unpack your suitcase once and repack it because you have no idea how pack a suitcase."

"I need my iPod!" Santana whined again. It was early, five in the morning, and Santana was one who needed her sleep. It was the reason that Maribel made sure that Santana always got at least eight hours of sleep.

"Santana, stop whining. You can go home with me."

"No. Do you know where my iPod is?" Santana asked, this time a bit more calmly.

"Yes, I do. Shelby has it. She asked for everyone's iPod's. She isn't going to give them to you until you need them."

Maribel knew that Shelby was holding onto the gadgets just in case the kids got on one another's nerves on the drive. She could hand out iPods and make them listen to them if necessary.

Maribel thought her plan was pretty ingenious.

"Ugh. Fine." Santana said. She was so tired.

"Santana! Are you ready? I am so excited! I have barely slept all night! Only when Mom threatened to make me stay with Beth and Aunt Judy did I go to sleep. Well, Mom thinks I went to sleep, I was playing on my phone and researching things for us to do in Chicago, I…"

Santana's eyes widened as she listened to Rachel and watched as Shelby walked behind the girl who was currently speed talking so fast, that Santana's sleepy mind couldn't process.

"I guess I am going to have to start taking your phone from you when I send you to bed. You just got your texting and internet back. I was being generous by giving it back to you two weeks early, do you really think that you need to push limits so soon?"

Rachel swallowed and turned and looked up at her mother.

"I am sorry! I am just so excited." Rachel said.

Shelby smiled and pulled Rachel towards her. She knew that Rachel got overly excited about things, and that the newly turned fifteen year old did not care that it was just past five in the morning.

"Baby girl, I know that you are excited, but you need to calm down, okay? We still have at least a five hour drive if we include the stops that we will have to make, and I need you to be a good rider."

Rachel nodded excitedly.

Shelby knew that she was going to have to make Rachel sit in the front seat, at least for the beginning of the journey, because otherwise she was going to drive the other kids nuts.

"Go make sure that you got everything that you want to take with you." Shelby said, though she knew that Rachel had everything. Shelby had packed Rachel's suitcase to make sure that everything was in there that she would need.

"I love you, Quinnie." Judy said as she gave her daughter a hug. Quinn was already sitting in the car, Judy was standing beside her with the door open.

"Love you, too." Quinn mumbled, practically asleep. Judy tucked a blanket around Quinn's lap and kissed her head. Quinn was about to fall asleep, and Judy wanted her to be comfortable.

"You call me when you get there and every day after. You also call me if you just want to talk to me, okay?" Judy said.

"I know, Mommy." Quinn mumbled, her eyes closing heavily, but trying to open back up.

Judy kissed her again, and smiled. Quinn only called her mommy in a sleepy haze.

"I will see you later, sweetheart." Judy whispered and closed the door quietly, as Quinn was already asleep.

Judy turned to find Shelby standing behind her with Rachel leaning into her.

"Quinn asleep already? We haven't even started moving yet." Shelby said with a laugh. She had known that Quinn would be the first asleep though. The girl could fall asleep in any moving vehicle within the first five minutes.

"I don't think that she slept last night. Shelby, are you sure about this? With all four of the kids…" Judy asked one last time. She personally thought that Shelby was a bit nuts. Rachel and Quinn alone were handfuls. Add Kurt and they were even worse. Now add Santana…Judy shuddered.

"It will be fine. They will behave, or I will make sure that they do. It will be fun." Shelby said.

"I hope that you are right," Judy said laughing lightly.

"I am. Baby girl, go sit in the front seat." Shelby said, as she watched Kurt jumping out of Carole's car, grab his suitcase, and wave bye to his stepmother. Carole waved at Shelby and Shelby waved back. The two of them had talked for a while the night before, but both women knew that Shelby knew more about Kurt than Carole, as she had been in the boy's life since he was a toddler. Carole was still learning, but Shelby was glad that Kurt was making more of an effort with the woman.

"I am here, Auntie Shel!" Kurt yelled, putting his bag in the car and then climbing in to sit in the middle of the backseat. He was ready to go.

Shelby shook her head as she watched Santana peak to make sure that no one was looking and then wrapped her arms around her mother and then kissed her cheek. Shelby thought she heard the girl whisper that she would miss her mom.

Santana wanted people to see her as a badass, but Shelby saw past the attitude and the mock confidence. She saw the little girl who wanted nothing more than to have her mother's trust and approval.

"Call me if Beth gives you any troubles, Judy." Shelby said as Santana climbed into the car. The kids were ready to go, now she had to get in the car.

Judy laughed.

"Me? Trouble with Beth? How about you and the four fifteen year old's you have in your car."

"We will be fine." Shelby laughed. Maribel raised an eyebrow at Shelby as she walked over to the other two adults.

"We will be thinking about you. Please make Santana call me every day. She will want to, but won't because the other kids are around."

"No worries. I will make her. It will be fine guys. You will see."

Soon, Shelby was backing out of the driveway, Judy and Maribel standing on the sidewalk watching the car before they went back to their own homes.

"How long do you think it will be before she has to threaten one of them?" Maribel asked.

Judy laughed again.

"I bet she doesn't make it two hours."

Maribel smiled.

"I bet you are right."

**-OneStepAtATime-  
**  
It was approximately one hour and thirteen minutes before Shelby felt that maybe a road trip with four teenagers was not such a good idea.

Thirty minutes into the trip, Rachel had needed to use the bathroom. Shelby had told all of the kids to go before they left the house, but obviously they had known better than Shelby and decided that they didn't need to go.

Again, Shelby told them all to go when they stopped, but she couldn't get Quinn to wake up enough. Fifteen minutes after they left the restroom that they had found, Quinn woke up and needed to go.

Shelby had sighed, but said nothing, and turned into the next rest stop. That was the moment that Rachel started flipping through radio stations.

"Stop Rachel!" Kurt hissed from behind her. Of course, Rachel ignored him, so he pushed the back of we seat with his legs.

Shelby sighed, but kept an eye out for Quinn.

"I'm hungry." Rachel said. Shelby knew that she had been up since four(ish) and had not eaten anything yet. Rachel was used to her mother fixing her breakfast as soon as she was up.

"We are stopping in an hour." Was all Shelby said. Rachel sighed.

"Can I go get something in the store?"

"No."

Rachel sighed again, and then went back to flipping through the radio stations as Quinn came back out and climbed into the car.

"Rachel! For the love of Barbra! Stop flipping through the channels!" Santana said from where she was sitting in the third row of seats.

It was silent for another glorious fifteen minutes.

Click.

Another station.

Click.

Yet another.

Whap!

Kurt kicked Rachel's seat.

"Stop, Kurt!"

Click.

Whap!

"Stop!" Rachel yelled and then turned around and raised her hand to hit Kurt, but Shelby, without ever turning around, caught her arm with her right hand.

Shelby didn't say anything because she was interrupted when Santana poked Kurt for kicking at Rachel's seat.

"Santana! Stop touching me!"

"Stop kicking Rachel's seat!"

"Shut it, Satan!" Kurt hissed.

Santana unbuckled her seatbelt and reached over the seat and smacked Kurt.

"Santana!" Shelby scolded.

"Don't call me satan, fancy pants!"

"Ow! I'll call you what I want!" Kurt yelled.

"You are both acting like toddlers!" Quinn said, rolling her eyes.

"Satan!" Kurt yelled.

"Kurt, leave Santana alone! You're being a douche!" Rachel turned around and yelled.

"Rachel, you're not helping anything." Quinn hissed.

"You guys better not make me pull this car over!" Shelby said over them all.

"I'm gonna smack you, Quinn, if you don't shut it!" Rachel said.

Then Quinn, thinking Shelby could not see her, flipped Rachel off.

Rachel undid her seatbelt, and before Shelby knew what was going on, Rachel was in the backseat.

"Nice one, Rachel!" Santana said.

"You're such a brat!" Quinn said.

Shelby instantly turned into the convenient store parking lot they were passing.

Shelby slammed the car in park and climbed out.

"Oh shit." Quinn whispered.

Rachel's eyes were wide.

"Guys, we have to hide!" Kurt said quickly.

Before Santana knew what was happening, she was the only one left in the car and her three friends were running towards what appeared to be outside bathrooms connected to the store.

Santana looked towards Shelby and noticed the look of pure anger on her face.

Santana instantly jumped out of the car and ran towards her friends, despite hearing Shelby calling for her.

Where had the other three gone?

She saw a swinging door... Had they really gone in there? Had they really gone into the men's bathroom?

The more Santana thought, the smarter that sounded. So, she headed straight in the bathroom, despite hearing her name being called again.

Inside of the bathroom, one of the most revolting places that Santana had ever in her life been, she was confused. She had no idea where everyone had gone. She stepped over a mess of soaking wet toilet paper. She silently hoped that it was only water that was on the floor.

"Where the hell are you guys? You better not leave me to be the only one to get in trouble, damnit!" Santana growled.

"Shut the hell up, Satan! We are in the last stall…the only one with a door!" Santana heard Kurt say. Santana rushed down to the last stall and pushed it.

"Open the door, shit!"

Soon, the door was opened by Kurt. Santana pushed him aside and walked into the stall. The water was standing on the floor in here as well.

And Quinn and Rachel were standing on top of the toilet.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Santana asked as Kurt slid the lock back into place and then climbed on top of the toilet lid with Quinn and Rachel.

"You might want to get up here." Rachel said. She was leaning against the wall, above the toilet flusher.

"Why?"

"My mom is pissed. When she stops the car like that, she means business. You want her to calm down. Plus, you took your seat belt off while she was driving." Rachel said, her arms crossed over her chest.

"So did you! And you jumped at Quinn from the front seat!"

"Yea, she will probably get me for that one. But, I would rather she calm down first."

"Isn't us hiding in here, in the men's bathroom, on top of a toilet, going to make her angrier?" Santana asked, though she did take a couple steps closer to the toilet.

Then she heard the bathroom door slam open.

Rachel's eyes grew wide and she motioned for Santana to get on top of the toilet seat. Santana didn't even hesitate this time. She climbed up on the toilet seat, a place that was suddenly very crowded with four teenagers standing on top of it.

"Do you think that is her?" Quinn whispered.

Rachel nodded. So did Kurt.

"This is ridiculous! We are going to have to get out of here sooner or later, and she is going to get mad if she thinks she lost us!" Santana whispered.

The other three just looked at one another. Santana was new to all of this. What did she know?

"I know that the four of you are in here. I am going to count to three, and if each one of you is not standing in front of me, I am going to start busting butts. I would hate for you each to have to make the rest of the trip with a sore backside."

The voice startled Kurt, who knocked into Quinn, who fell into Rachel, who then accidently grabbed Santana.

Santana then slipped into the toilet with her right leg.

Her eyes grew and her eyes blazed.

"Holy fuck, Kurt! You pansy ass! You just made me step in the damn toilet!"

"Santana Lopez!" Shelby yelled. That language was not acceptable. That, added onto everything else that had happened in the last hour, was about to set Shelby off.

"One."

Rachel jumped down. Santana was pissed at Kurt, and Quinn was still standing on the toilet.

Rachel opened the door to the nasty stall and tried to step back, but Shelby grabbed her arm and swatted her backside.

"Ow! Mom! Not fair! I opened the door! Why am I the first one to get swatted?" Rachel said, tears welling up in her eyes. Shelby focused on her for a moment. One swat, a swat that wasn't even very hard, never made Rachel cry. She would have to talk to Rachel later and see if there was something else bothering her.

"There will be more where that comes from if you do not start behaving," Shelby focused on each one of the teens for a few seconds and then spoke again, "I am ashamed of each and every one of you! You are each fifteen years old and we have not been on the road but a little over an hour! Rachel, stand in front of me. Kurt, behind her. Quinn, then Santana. We are going back out to the car, You will each sit in your seats, buckled up, and you will be completely quiet until we stop for breakfast, which as of right now, is still more than thirty minutes away."

Shelby continued to lecture the four teens as she walked them out of the bathroom in a single file line. She shook her head. Why in the world had they thought that it would be a good idea to hide from her in a men's bathroom? On top of a toilet? Shelby felt like she needed to sanitize them completely now.

She stopped right before they got to the car and used the clicker in her hand to unlock the door. She dug through her purse and pulled out some hand sanitizer and opened it.

"Everyone, hold open your hand." She said and then proceeded to squirt some of the sanitizer into each of the kids' hands. She then went back to the front of the line.

"Rachel, backseat. If you take your seatbelt off while you are back there, I will pull over, no matter where we are, and I will spank you without a care about who is watching. Now, car." Shelby said, though she knew she would not spank Rachel in front of anyone. Swatting, however, was completely different. It was a warning, not a punishment.

Every one of these kids needed a warning at the moment. Shelby liked to think that her patience had no end. She was, after all, the mother of Rachel and Beth Corcoran, and they tested limit, she was positive, like no other children in the world. That was why she was certain that this trip would go off without a hitch.

Rachel tentatively walked past her mother and, just as she suspected, another light swat met her behind, and she rubbed furiously as she climbed into the backseat of the car, not because it stung, but to hopefully deter her mother from providing any further swats. Her eyes were still tearing up though.

"Kurt. You are next. You will sit where you sat earlier. Come here."

Kurt sighed and walked over to his aunt. As much as he wanted to hide, he knew better. He knew better than to try and get past her too, so he just stopped in front of her.

Two swats fell onto his backside and then his Auntie Shel pointed to the car.  
He wished that he had his game boy. But his auntie Shel had that and his iPod.

"You will stop causing trouble. No hitting the back of the seat or name calling. Santana does not want to be called Satan, and I better not hear you doing so. Go get in the car." Shelby told him.

He trudged over to the car and got in with a sigh.

"Quinn."

Quinn sighed. She crossed her arms and just waited. She knew the swats were coming and it was a lot harder walking over to her aunt when she knew that.

They did.

"Quinn, you know how to behave. If the other kids are fussing, it is best for you to simply stay out of it." Shelby said, knowing that oftentimes Quinn let the others pull her into things and was rarely ever the leader.

"However, the next time I catch you flipping someone off, you will regret it."

"Okay, Aunt Shel." Quinn said nodding, and then walked over to the car and got in, sitting behind the driver's seat.

Now Shelby stared at Santana. She could tell the girl was uncomfortable and her right pants leg and shoe were soaked making the entire situation even more uncomfortable.

Santana, despite trying to maintain a badass stance, was nervous. This was Ms. Corcoran. Ms. Corcoran, though Santana wished that it wasn't so, had way more badass points than Santana did.

"I realize that you are new to our unconventional little family, but over the last few weeks we have all begin to think of you as another part of it. Just because you are new does not mean that you can misbehave. Unbuckling you seat belt, cursing, hitting, and name calling are not acceptable. The other kids know this, which is why they are already in the car, I just want to make sure that you also know it, okay?" Shelby asked Santana gently. Shelby knew that the girl had to get used to being in their group, especially when it was just Shelby with the kids.

"Yes, ma'am." Santana said and looked down at the ground. She had yet to truly separate the Ms. Corcoran at school and the Shelby out of school. They were still very similar to Santana, especially now that she was being lectured.

"I want you to get changed into something else, Santana. I want you dry. Did you bring another pair of shoes?"

Santana nodded. Her mom had made her pack three different pair of shoes. Santana was never wearing the shoes on her feet again. They had fallen into a toilet in a men's bathroom!

"Okay, I want you to change in the bathroom, and then you are up front with me for a little while."

"Why do I have to sit in the front?" Santana asked suddenly. She had liked sitting in the back.

"Because that is where I want you for the time being." Shelby said, but part of the reason was because she knew that Santana was the only kid in the car who would probably not mess with the radio. Shelby was not ready to give in and hand over their iPods yet because she knew that after about an hour, the iPods would be tossed aside.

"Fine." Santana whined a little and went to the back of the car where Shelby was lifting the back up. She needed new clothes so that she could get out of these nasty, wet ones.

"I have a sack you can put your shoes and pants in since they are wet." Shelby said.

Santana looked at her like she was nuts.

"I am throwing them away. There is no way I am every wearing them again! They are nasty! That was a guys bathroom!" Santana suddenly screeched.

Shelby raised an eyebrow and grabbed the sack from the back, handed the sack to Santana, swatted her twice, and pointed towards the women's bathroom.

"Go. Do not throw your clothes away. They will wash. You have five minutes, and then you need to be in the car."

Santana, eyes wide and mouth open, nodded. She had not really thought that she would be swatted! She was shocked. Her mother was the only person who had ever swatted her! She had her father wrapped too tightly around her fingers. He would do anything she asked and they both knew it.

Unfortunately, her mother knew it too.

But, back in the present, Santana was merely staring at Shelby.

"Go on, Santana. Be thankful that you are only getting those two swats. That was your warning. There will be no more warnings today, so hopefully you and your cohorts will behave from now on." Shelby said with one eyebrow still raised a bit higher than the other. She could tell that the swats had thrown Santana.

"Yes ma'am. I am going." Santana said quickly and made her way towards the bathroom quickly.

Shelby shook her head and smiled. It was almost scary how well Santana fit in with the crew in the car.

Shelby went over to the back door where Quinn was sitting and looked at the three in the car. She could tell that, given the chance, Quinn would be back asleep before long. Kurt was just looking at a magazine he had brought.

It was Rachel who really caught her attention. The girl was still crying. It was extremely abnormal.

"Baby girl, come out here. I want to talk to you for a minute." Shelby said. Rachel nodded and climbed out of the backseat and over Quinn to get out of the car.

Shelby took Rachel's hand and walked over to the back of the car.

"Baby girl, why are you crying? This is not like you. It was just a few swats that I know didn't even sting." Shelby said, wiping Rachel's tears away with her fingers.

Rachel sniffed.

"They didn't hurt. That's not why I am crying. I didn't even mean to start crying."

"Then what is it?"

"I am hungry! I am used to eating when I get up. You always have breakfast waiting on me." Rachel sniffed and then fell into her mother and put her hand up the bottom of Shelby's shirt.

That was the moment that Shelby realized what was truly wrong with her daughter.

"How much sleep did you get last night, baby girl?" Shelby said, rubbing Rachel's back and letting Rachel lean into her and seek the comfort she needed in that moment.

"I don't know. I was excited. And I couldn't sleep. And now I am hungry and you are mad." Rachel said. Shelby smiled, though didn't let Rachel see her. Some things never changed. She wondered if Rachel would always be cranky when she was tired and hungry.

"We have thirty minutes before we get to the restaurant for breakfast, Rach, and then two hours before we get to the hotel. If you all don't sleep between now and then, all of you are going to be taking a nap when we get to the hotel for a while. Okay? That will leave us plenty of time to get up and get ready, eat an early supper, and then go see Wicked."

Rachel nodded into her mother. Usually, she hadn't the idea of taking a nap, but she had not slept the night before. At all. She had told her mother that she had not slept much, but the fact was that she had been up since the day before at nine when she got up for breakfast with her mom and Beth.

"Will you lay with me if I have to take a nap?" Rachel asked quietly.

Shelby patted her back.

"Yes, I will lay down with you when you nap. I wish you would have come into my room last night and told me you couldn't sleep."

"I am fifteen now though." Rachel said quietly.

It was then that Shelby realized that Rachel had not slept in her bed or asked her to lay down with her since her birthday.

Shelby hugged her tighter.

"It doesn't matter how old you are, baby girl, you can always lay with me when you need to." Shelby said.

Rachel nodded. She could fall asleep standing against her mother if they were to stand there much longer.

Shelby kissed the top of her head and then patted her behind.

"Go on and climb in the car. There is Santana, and I know that you are hungry. I am too, so we need to get on the road."

Rachel smiled and nodded and then climbed back into the car.

Several minutes later, they were on their way.

Shelby hoped that her kids behaved from here on out.

Hopefully.

Surely they wouldn't be able to get into any trouble if she kept them busy…

Surely not.

* * *

**AN: So, thoughts? Comments? I want to thank everyone who reviewed :) **


	35. Chicago

**Chapter Thirty-Five: Chicago**

Shelby had never been so thankful to be at a hotel before.

She had reserved a suite for them, one room had a king size bed in it for her and the other room had two double beds for the kids.

Shelby knew that Rachel would end up sleeping with her, leaving Santana and Quinn with one bed and Kurt with the other.

Right now, though, all she was worried about was making the kids nap. Hell, even she wanted a nap. She needed a nap. She had gotten plenty of sleep the night before, but dealing with four, whiny teenagers had worn her out. Breakfast had been another nightmare. They had accidently put eggs on Rachel's plate and she had refused to eat anything on the plate because it had all been touching.

Shelby had had to take the plate up to the waitress and explain to her why Rachel was spazzing out.

There had even been more tears. Shelby had hoped that Rachel would fall asleep in the car, but she knew that she probably wouldn't happen because Rachel would be afraid that she would miss something.

Then Kurt had spilled his orange juice and, trying to get out of the way before the juice got on him, pushed Santana off of her seat and onto the floor. Santana had gotten mad and had started to say something to Kurt until Shelby had tapped her thigh and told her to sit back down.

Quinn's food had come out later than anyone else's, much to Shelby's displeasure, since it took Quinn nearly as long to eat as it took Rachel.

Then she had to tell Santana to slow down. She had never seen a child literally inhale her food as the girl had done.

Then there was a fight over seating in the car, despite Shelby being the one to tell them where to sit.

Now, though, they were fixing to take a nap.

"Okay guys, I want everyone to get ready for a nap." Shelby said, ushering the kids into the room.

"I don't want to sleep. I want to take a shower." Santana said sulking. She was tired, but she had also stepped into a filthy toilet that morning and she wanted to take a shower.

"Santana, you can take a quick shower, but then you are lying down for a nap. Get your things and go on. Make it quick though."

Santana nodded and quickly grabbed her bag and rolled it in the bathroom and shut the door.

She was thankful that she was getting a shower.

Kurt didn't want a nap. He was too excited about being in Chicago.

He looked over at his Auntie Shel and was just about to open his mouth to ask a question when she said, "Do not even think about it, Kurt. You are taking a nap. End of discussion."

He sighed and nodded, then went over to his bag to grab a pair of pajama pants so that he would be comfortable when he laid down.

Quinn wasn't even going to attempt to not take a nap. She wanted to sleep.

Rachel walked over to her mother and leaned against her, her head lying against Shelby's chest.

"Mama, come lay down with me." Rachel said.

Shelby wrapped her arm around Rachel and kissed her head.

"I will in just a moment. Go ahead and climb into the bed." Shelby whispered. Rachel nodded and then walked through the connecting door, shed her pants, and climbed into the bed.

Santana was out of the shower and lying down beside Quinn, nearly asleep before Shelby walked into the opposite room, changed quickly in the bathroom, and then climbed in beside Rachel who was still awake, but only just. Rachel moved over towards her mother.

Shelby opened her arms and Rachel snuggled into them, clutching her mother's shirt. She hadn't slept beside her mother since before her birthday, and she had missed it. She didn't always want to sleep with her mother, but she did sometimes.

And now she knew that it was okay, that just because she was fifteen didn't matter.

"Love you, Mama." Rachel whispered just as she finally dozed off.

Shelby smiled, and then dozed off as well.

**~OneStepAtATime~**

Three hours later, all of the kids were up, dressed, and ready to go. They were going to an early showing of Wicked, and then they were going to dinner and to look at shops. Shelby had already given them all snacks that she had packed so that they would make it until after the show.

She also had a bag packed with snacks, water, hand sanitizer, wipes, pads, tampons, bandaids, and Tylenol. It struck her as quite funny that she had to pack just as much for the four fifteen year olds as she had to for Rachel and Beth when they were babies.

But, she knew, if she was not prepared then something would come up and she would have to take all of the kids to search for whatever it was that they needed. She would rather just be prepared.

Now they were dressed and ready to head over to the theater, which was about four blocks from their hotel.

"Okay, guys, make sure that you have your jackets, phones, and at least twenty dollars on you. Leave your iPods here." Shelby said. All she needed was a lost iPod. These kids thought the world was ending when they couldn't find their iPods. It was not something that she was going to go through, so it was better if their iPods simply stayed in the hotel room.

There were a few groans, but four iPods were placed on the table that sat near the door. Shelby had known the little monsters would try and take the electronics along with them.

"Okay, let's go." Shelby said with a smile. Inside, though, she was really wondering what she had gotten herself into.

**~OneStepAtATime~**

Several hours later, as they walked out of the theater, Shelby smiled as she listened to the four kids talk excitedly about the production of Wicked that they had just seen. She had never seen the four children as silent and enthralled in something before, and she knew that she had made the right decision when picking that particular show to see. They had literally loved it.

"Mom! Can we get shirts?" Rachel asked excitedly, practically jumping up and down beside her mother, even going as far as to pull on Shelby's arm, something Rachel had done as a toddler when she was trying to get her mother's attention.

"Rachel, honey, I know that you are excited, but you have to calm down." Shelby told her lightly, gently unlatching her arm from Rachel.

"Yea, Rachel! Calm down and stop acting like a toddler." Kurt teased with a laugh.

Rachel turned and glared at him.

"Screw you, Kurt." Rachel growled. Shelby sighed. Those two fought like siblings at times, and she had really hoped that this trip would not be one of those times. Since they had grown up together, though, it was often inevitable that they would get into a few spats here and there.

"Both of you stop before I cart you off into the bathroom. You are both fifteen! Act like it." Shelby told them. She could see a nearby woman stifling a laugh. Shelby shook her head. Once upon a time she thought it was funny to hear people getting onto their kids too.

Before she had kids, that is.

Rachel scowled at Kurt as they walked to one of the areas where t-shirts were sold.

The group quickly picked out their t-shirts and then handed them over to Shelby, who simply sighed when she saw how long the line was.

"You guys stay in the vicinity. I want to be able to see all of you at all times. This is not Lima, and I do not want any of you getting lost. Understood?" Shelby said sternly.

All four nodded, and then Shelby watched as they all went into various directions to look around, and then she turned to face the line she was standing in so that she could pay attention as it moved forward.

Over to one side, Santana and Rachel were looking at a rotating rack that was loaded with all sorts of post cards.

"There was a store across the way, do you want to go check it out?" Santana asked, pointing out the nearby front entrance to the store that was across the road.

Rachel looked up at it and smiled. She had wanted to go look in that store. It was a music store, and their collection, from the outside looking in, looked fabulous.

"Yes! Let me go ask Quinn if she wants to go." Rachel said. She was not going to ask Kurt because he had ticked her off earlier.

Rachel walked over to where Quinn was standing and grabbed her arm.

"San and I are going to a store that way," Rachel pointed at the store across the road, "do you want to go?"

Quinn looked first at Santana, who was waiting where Rachel had left her, and then she looked at Rachel, who was looking at her expectantly.

She then turned to look at Kurt, who was oogling some random guy that sent her gaydar, and obviously Kurt's, off. Quinn shook her head. If Aunt Shel saw the way that Kurt was practically stalking that guy….

Quinn then looked over at Aunt Shel, who was talking to the woman in front of her in the cashier's line, her arms laden down with all of the shirts that had been picked out and handed over.

"I don't think so, Rach. Aunt Shel won't like it if we disappear." Quinn said, knowing good and well that neither Rachel nor Santana were going to ask permission to go anywhere. Rachel always let her excitement get ahead of her and did whatever she wanted to do without thinking about it. Quinn actually liked to think things through.

Rachel shrugged. It was fine with her. She just wanted to ask Quinn before they left. She had suspected that the other girl would not want to go, and she was okay with that.

Rachel grabbed Santana's forearm and then pulled the girl to the front door, where they both disappeared from Quinn's view. Quinn shook her head. Rachel just never seemed to know when to…not. She just always did.

Quinn wasn't going to rat on her though. Quinn never did, else Rachel would always be in trouble, and Rachel and Quinn would fight all the time.

Plus, most of the time, Rachel was able to pull Quinn into her schemes. Had Santana not been with them today, Quinn would have been pulled into it as well. It was the way things worked with them and had since they had been nine and ten years old.

"Where are Santana and Rachel?" Kurt asked from behind Quinn. Quinn turned and stared at Kurt.

"You know you are going to have to stop teasing Rachel. You know how she gets when she is excited better than anyone Kurt." Quinn chastised her friend. Kurt scowled.

"She knows that I was just teasing her. Even if she was acting like a toddler."

"Kurt. Grow up. You act just like her when you are excited, and you know it. Plus, Aunt Shel made her take a nap, and Rachel already has more energy than most people. Plus, don't think I didn't see you pulling that candy out of your bag when Aunt Shel was in the bathroom and giving it to Rachel. You do that shit on purpose, and you know that it makes Aunt Shel mad. But, even though she gets mad at Rach, she is also going to get mad at you for giving it to her."

"Oh stuff it, Quinn!" Kurt hissed, crossed his arms over his chest, and then stared off to the side.

"Screw you, Kurt! I hope this comes to bite you in the ass!" Quinn hissed back.

She then pushed past Kurt to walk to Shelby, but Kurt spun and pushed her back. This caused Quinn to turn and glare at him, and raise her hand. She hit his arm and then he raised a hand as well.

"I dare you to hit me, you pansy ass!"

"Oh so high and mighty, Quinn fucking Fabray! I don't care who you are!" Kurt said.

Both froze, though, when they felt a hand wrap around each of their raised hands.

Both slowly looked up and swallowed.

A very angry Shelby Corcoran was standing over them, a shopping bag hanging off of one side and her oversized purse off the other.

"What in the world is wrong with the two of you? I could hear both of you at the counter!" Shelby said, shaking them both slightly to make sure that she had their attention.

Both teens glared up at her.

"Kurt is being a douche!" Quinn hissed.

"You are the one who is being a bi…"

Shelby shaking them both again gently was what caused Kurt to realize exactly who he was standing in front of and that it would not be wise to curse in front of the woman. He had done it before, and he did not want to be punished for it again.

"I want both of you to watch your mouths. You are both fifteen years old, too old to be fighting and carrying on in public. Now, we will talk about this later. Where are Rachel and Santana?" Shelby asked, suddenly realizing that she had seen neither girl for quite some time.

"Where are Santana and Rachel?" Shelby suddenly asked, scanning the crowded lobby. Suddenly, the lobby seemed even more crowded than it actually was. People were buying Wicked paraphernalia, kids were running around, people were in groups talking.

But there was no Santana or Rachel in sight.

Maybe they had gone to the bathroom?

Maybe they were looking at the postcards still?

No. They were not over there. She felt Kurt move and looked down at him. He was sticking his tongue out at Quinn.

Shelby let go of Quinn, turned Kurt, and swatted him. She didn't care where they were, the two were acting ridiculous.

"Auntie Shel!" Kurt whined, trying to cover his backside.

"No. Stop. I want you to act like you are fifteen, not five. Now, have either of you seen Rachel or Santana?" Shelby asked, looking up again and trying to find the other two heathens who she had insisted on bringing to Chicago for some reason that was suddenly not coming to Shelby.

Why had she brought all four of them at one time?

"Have either of you seen Rachel or Santana?" Shelby asked again, this time looking first at Kurt, who shook his head no, and then at Quinn who did the same.

Shelby sighed.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and hit Rachel's number. It rang twice before her bag started vibrating.

"Shit." Shelby muttered. She had forgotten that she had taken all of the kids' cell phones from them before the show started so that they would not be tempted to use them. It had been unnecessary, as each one of them had been completely sucked into the show.

She guided the other two teens over to a set of chairs and pointed. They both sat and she looked down at them.

"I am going to look for the other two," she began digging in her bag, "Neither of you are to move from this spot," she handed first Quinn her phone, and then Kurt his, "and if you get into a fight again, tonight is going to be a very sad night for both of your behinds." Shelby said, sending them both a glare. They both shrunk back, and Shelby nodded.

She turned and started scanning the crowd. She looked down at her watch.

She realized that she had not seen either of the girls in nearly twenty minutes. She took a deep breath. She was so not going to freak out. They were fifteen. They were around here somewhere. Besides, how much trouble could they truly get into?

Shelby sighed. It was Rachel and Santana. They could get into all kinds of trouble. A lot.

Another five minutes passed with Shelby scanning the large crowd as she made her way through the lobby and outside to scan the crowd there. She had checked the bathrooms, and there had been no sign of them there. She had called their names. She had not seen them. She was really starting to freak out a little.

Her baby was lost in Chicago. What the hell had she been thinking by bringing the kids to Chicago? The crime rate alone…Shelby shook her head. She did not need to think about that!

She scanned the crowded sidewalks outside once more before her eyes settled on police officer near the front entrance to the theater. Her kids had been missing long enough. She wanted them found, and she wanted them found now.

She did not want them found in twenty-four hours. She didn't want them found in twenty-four minutes! She wanted them both in front of her right this minute.

"Excuse me, sir?" Shelby asked, hurriedly walking up to the officer.

The officer looked up at her and smiled.

"Yes, may I help you?"

Shelby looked at him for a second. Obviously she needed help! Her kids were missing!

"My daughter and her friend have gone missing and I cannot find them. I am really worried about the both of them. We are here on vacation and I took them to see Wicked and when…"

"Mom?"

Shelby froze. She dropped both her purse and her shopping bag as she turned around and stared at her daughter and Santana. She didn't even pay attention to the things that were on the ground. Instead, she rushed towards the two girls and wrapped an arm around them both and help them to her as she took a deep breath.

A minute later, a minute that she had to take in order to calm her nerves and her rising temper, she let go of the girls. She grabbed Santana's arm, Rachel would know better than to back away from her in this moment, and then swatted Santana's backside, hard. She then grabbed Rachel and did the same.

"You two scared me to death! I have been looking for the both of you for nearly thirty minutes! Anything could have happened! This is not Lima, Ohio, girls! This is Chicago!" Shelby fussed at the two of them.

Both girls shrunk back and looked passed Shelby. The police officer that Shelby had been talking to had picked up Shelby's bag and purse and were holding them for her until she was done chastising the two girls. Behind him, Kurt and Quinn were standing. They had seen Rachel and Santana walk up to Shelby from a window, and figured that it might be safe to join the group.

Shelby's eyes were simply blazing. She sighed deeply and looked up at the sky for a minute.

"We will talk about this at the hotel room." She then walked turned around to grab her things and stared at Quinn and Kurt.

"I thought that I told you two to stay in the sitting area? It seems that none of you are listening to me today. But, that is okay. We will take care of it back at the hotel." Shelby stated simply.

"What? Why are we in trouble?" Rachel asked suddenly, stopping to look up at her mother. She knew that Shelby was mad that they had gone off, but was this much anger totally was not necessary.

Shelby turned to glare at her.

"Because I had no idea where you were at."

"Then why didn't Quinn just tell you where we were at? She knew!"

Quinn shot daggers at Rachel and Shelby turned to glare daggers at Quinn.

"We will all discuss this back at the hotel." Shelby said in a voice that was deadly.

All four of the kids swallowed nervously as they watched Shelby walk up to the police officer who was still holding her bags.

"Thank you, and I am so sorry for bothering you. I had no idea and…"

The officer held up his hand and chuckled.

"It is alright. I can tell you have your hands full." He said as he handed the bags back to Shelby.

Shelby sighed and smiled.

"You have no idea. Thank you for your patience. I was just really starting to worry. Who knows how much trouble they can get into in Chicago without a chaperone?"

The police officer chuckled again.

"You are more than welcome, ma'am." He said. They exchanged a few more niceties, and then the officer walked away as Shelby turned back to her troublesome quartet.

She didn't say anything, merely beckoned for them to follow her and hailed down a taxi.

She pointed, they obliged and climbed in, and then they were headed back to the hotel.

She could tell that they were all nervous.

Good, she thought. She was positive that she had lost ten years off of her life because of that little scare.

For now, though, she was going to use the time she had to calm down and think about how she was going to handle this little situation.

**~OneStepAtATime~**

While Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt knew very well what was fixing to happen to them when they got back to the hotel, Santana was utterly clueless. Sure she had run off without permission, so what?

It wasn't like it had been that big of a deal. Nothing had happened, and they were all safe and stuff.

But, the moment that they entered their hotel rooms, Santana knew that something was up.

Shelby entered first, and then, suddenly, Santana felt herself being pushed forward, everyone else hiding behind her, when, initially, she had been behind everyone else.

"What the crap guys?" She hissed, turning her head to glare at them.

Then she looked up at Shelby Corcoran.

Santana froze. She had never seen the look on Ms. Corcoran's face that was there now. It was…furious. Even the blackmailing had not made the woman look at her like that.

"Oh good, Santana Lopez, you can be first." Shelby said, pointing towards the room where she and Rachel had slept the night before.

Santana looked up at her, confused. What the hell was going on?

"Go wait on the bed in there, Santana, I will be in there shortly." Shelby said.

Santana's eyes grew wide. She nodded, but she didn't say anything as she walked into the opposite room and then sat down on the bed there.

In the other room, Shelby glared at the other three.

"I want you each in a corner until I call you into that room. Today was not okay. Each of you know that. Fighting, running off, disobeying me. None of that was okay. Corner. Now." Shelby said in a deadly tone. Each of the kids quickly ran to a corner.

Shelby was slightly amused that they all actually ran to different corners and didn't try to run to the same one. It was like they had each known where the others were going to go.

Shelby sighed. She had to talk to Santana. She knew that Santana was going to take the longest, which was why she chose her first despite the other three pushing her ahead of them because they knew what to expect.

She walked into the opposite room and shut the door behind her. She turned and looked at Santana. She instantly felt sorry for the girl. She was unprepared for anything that was about to happen because this was really the first time that she had ever been with Shelby for an extended period of time.

Shelby had talked to Maribel before they left though, and told her how she handled things with the other three. It had been a random conversation, not one where Shelby was trying to ask Maribel if she could discipline Santana the same way. Quite the contrary, Shelby had merely been talking about things that Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt had gotten into while together, and how she and Judy had handled the situations.

Maribel had instantly told her to handle Santana exactly the same way that she handled the other three when Santana was with her.

That was exactly what Shelby planned on doing, but only after she talked to Santana about it. She was not going to spank Santana for running off and disobeying her without Santana understanding why.

"You don't have to be so nervous, Santana. I want to talk to you before we do anything else."

Santana looked at her nervously. Santana Lopez did not do nervous. She did calm and collected. She was a badass after all.

Only, in front of Ms. Corcoran, she was so not a badass. The woman sent fear down her spine 0

"You are upset, obviously that is plenty reason to be nervous." Santana said, eyeing the woman carefully.

Shelby smiled as she sat down beside Santana. She did not miss the girl go completely still.

"I really do just want to talk to you right now, Santana. You are in trouble, but you know that, don't you?"

Santana nodded.

"Can you tell me what you did wrong?" Shelby encouraged.

Santana swallowed.

"I went off with Rachel without asking. You told us to stay in the lobby of the theater, and we didn't listen. We thought that we would be back before you noticed that we were gone." Santana said quietly.

"You realize that I was worried, don't you? That when I looked up and could not find you and Rachel, I was terrified. Not only for Rachel, Santana, I was also very worried about you. We are not in Lima, Ohio. We are in Chicago. Anything could happen in a split second. I lost you and Rachel for over half an hour. That cannot happen. Do you understand?" Shelby lectured softly.

Santana looked into Shelby's eyes. She could tell that the woman had been nervous. That she had been worried out of her mind. She could see it in her eyes.

"Yes ma'am. I understand." Santana whispered.

Shelby nodded.

"I need to know whether or not you are okay with how I plan to punish you, Santana. I was worried, you and Rachel both knew that I wanted you to stay in the theater, and you both broke the rules. If we were at home, I might do something else, but we are not…"

"What are you going to do?" Santana asked quietly and quickly, interrupting Shelby's speech.

"I plan on spanking you, Santana, but I am not going to do that if it makes you uncomfortable. I have permission do to so from your mother…"

"You swatted me earlier." Santana stated, confused.

"Yes, I did. But a spanking and a few swats are not the same thing exactly. I want to make sure that you are okay with me being the one who is spanking you."

"You are going to spank the others." Santana stated, this time with clarity.

"Yes I am."

"Are you going to ask them if they are okay with it?"

"No. I am going to spank each of them for the things they did this afternoon, and then I am going to order room service. We will not be going back out tonight. I think that you are all still tired from the drive up, and I also do not think that any of you deserve to go out tonight after being punished."

"Then don't ask me if I am okay with it. I want to be like everyone else." Santana said quietly, looking down at the floor. Shelby leaned over and put her fingers under Santana's chin and lifted up so that Santana would be forced to look her in the eyes.

"Are you okay with it though?" Shelby asked. She had never asked the other three. Rachel was her daughter, Kurt had been around her since he was a toddler, and Quinn just…Quinn just happened. She had been young, and had needed a spanking the first Halloween they had spent together. Santana was fifteen though, and mature enough to have this conversation.

"What else would you do?" Santana suddenly asked.

"Probably make you write an essay tonight.

Santana's eyes widened.

"Um, no! I will take the spanking!" Santana said quickly. She had written one of Ms. Corcoran's infamous essays, and she never wanted to do so again. Shelby chuckled.

"Okay, Santana. Fifteen swats. Each of you will get the same. One for each year of your life. I will hold you afterwards if you like. But after I am finished, we have a clean slate, clear of all misdeeds. Understand?"

Santana nodded. That sounded fair. Her mother probably would have given her more for disappearing like that. But, her mother would also hold her afterwards as well, so Santana was glad that Ms. Corcoran had brought that up because she would have been too shy to ask.

Before Santana even realized what was happening, Shelby had her pulled over her lap and started raining down smacks. It was the ninth that Santana started to cry softly. More from remorse than anything else. Though, she had to admit, Ms. Corcoran's hand was a lot heavier than her own mother's and she was thankful that there would only be fifteen smacks.

Then Santana was sat up, her slightly sore backside on the bed, and Shelby's arms wrapped around her hr shoulders.

For ten minutes, they sat like that, Shelby rubbing Santana's back.

"Thank you." Santana whispered.

Shelby looked down at her. That was a first. She had never been thanked after giving a spanking.

"For what, honey?"

"For treating me like the rest of them. For not treating me differently."

Shelby smiled and wrapped her arms around Santana tightly once more before she let go, knowing that she had made the others wait long enough.

She still had three more spankings to give.

**~OneStepAtATime~**

Three more spankings and four contrite children later, Shelby had them all looking over the room service menu so that she could order dinner. She was amused because Quinn, Kurt, and Rachel kept shooting her glances. Nervous glances. Santana, however, was as cool as a cucumber.

Shelby wondered silently what was going on, but ignored it as she took the piece of paper that the kids had written their orders on so that she could call down and order it.

As she spoke to the kitchen over the phone, she heard Santana:

"I am telling you guys, she is probably going to make us leave in the morning. She hinted it when she took me in there and spanked me…"

Shelby barely held her laughter. She had done no such thing, and she could hear the playfulness in Santana's voice. The other kids, however, believed Santana. Shelby thought that she might just play along with Santana's little game. Just for a little while…

…Especially if it made the kids behave the rest of their trip….

**AN: Yea, it has been a while. I have been sick and all that jazz. I will hopefully not get sick again because I am pretty sure I have had more than my fair share of sickness since I was sick all of December…hopefully the next update will not take as long. **


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